


The Stories We Tell Ourselves

by Toast_42



Category: The Outer Worlds (Video Game)
Genre: 3 idiots learn to love, Asexual/Allosexual Relationship, Comfort, Conflict of Philosophy, Demisexual Captain, Denial of Feelings, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Ever Evolving Tags, Feelings, Friends to Lovers, Gender Dysphoria, Just a bit of praise kink, Kissing, Late Night Conversations, M/M, Masturbation, Multi, Oral Sex, Panic Attacks, Penis In Vagina Sex, Pining, Self-Doubt, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Burn, Spoilers, Starts on Monarch, Tactical Time Dilation (The Outer Worlds), The Outer Worlds Quest: Friendships Due, The Outer Worlds Quest: The Empty Man, anger issues, ftm!Captain, lots of talking, slowish burn, they're trying their best
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:14:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 80,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26589442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toast_42/pseuds/Toast_42
Summary: Sylas Holzer boarded the ship to the Halcyon Colony for family and compensation. He wasn't expecting those to come about like they did.
Relationships: Maximillian DeSoto/Felix Millstone, The Captain & Parvati Holcomb, The Captain/Felix Millstone, The Captain/Maximillian DeSoto, The Captain/Maximillian DeSoto/Felix Millstone
Comments: 16
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Unplanned Variables](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22379839) by [kaelma](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaelma/pseuds/kaelma). 



“Thank you for all of this, ADA,” Sylas Holzer said, looking over the several pages of notes cluttering his desk. After two hours and four cups of Trip-Teaz, he and ADA worked to establish a budget and pay rate for the crew he has acquired in the month since waking up from his deep freeze.

“My pleasure, Captain,” ADA replied from the Captain’s quarters computer. “I should make sure you are aware that you will need to pick up many more side jobs to fulfill the budget you want for the ship. You are paying the crew nearly double the going rate for a similar position on most freelance ships. And that doesn’t even take into account that you aren’t also taking a room and board fee and the Vicar is offering his services in exchange for transport to Monarch.”

Sylas took a deep breath, wiping his face with both hands. ADA wasn’t wrong that the amount of bits he would need to fulfill this dream exceeded the ones they brought in currently. 

“I don’t think Vicar Max knew he would be dragged into fighting a town’s worth of Raphtidon’s when he made that decision,” Sylas responded. “I want to make sure they feel valued while they travel with us. We’ll figure it out, even if I need to start running more salvage missions to make up the difference.”

“Alright, Captain,” ADA replied, though Sylas picked a little bit of exasperation in the AI’s voice. “Would you like me to initiate our departure from The Groundbreaker and begin the journey to Monarch?”

Sylas stood up and rubbed his neck, feeling the tightness at the base of his skull that he knew would turn into a tension headache. The only thing that seemed to be familiar was the continuous stress induced headaches he got when he could relax for a moment. 

“Not yet, I need to have a meeting with the crew before we set off,” he replied, fishing through one of his personal bins for the salve Adelaide made him as part of her thanks for sending the power plant's resources to the botanical Lab in the Emerald Vale. 

“Understood, Captain,” ADA replied. 

By the time Sylas found the salve and straightened up, ADA had disappeared from the screen of the computer. He flipped the jar in his hands a few times before setting it down on the chest. He couldn’t focus on everything that happened in the Emerald Vale right now. 

Edgewater was a small dying town full of despair and he had just woken up seventy years in the future instead of the ten he had been told. He thought that the workers would have just left once there was nothing left for them in Edgewater, but he underestimated just how indoctrinated they were to corporate thinking. He had a feeling that he would have to blast through Tobson, but Sylas didn’t expect all the guards and many of the cannery workers to fight him as he left. Tobson had a personal stake because of the power Spacer’s Choice gave him as the mayor, but everyone else was suffering. Why did they fight for that life?

Sylar took off his shirt, not wanting the salve to stain one of his only nice articles of clothing. 

He had to remind himself that he couldn;t control the actions of others. They had their own agency, even if they ended up as bodies in the streets because of it. 

As he picked up and opened the salve, he caught his reflection in the currently opaque glass of his personal window. New, pink, acid scars and scabbing scratches laced over previously unscarred skin. The faded scars across his chest seemed so hard to see now, one of the more visible remnants of his past self. 

Given everything he had been thrown into now, he was grateful he had top surgery as a part of his contract to join the group on the Hope. Indentured servitude to his own brother seemed worth flying across to the galaxy in exchange for expensive medical care and supporting Todd. 

Now it was just one less thing he had to worry about.

Like how he was supposed to save everyone on the Hope. 

This was his chance to take who he used to be and make himself into everything he wanted to be when he was younger. 

The strong, menthol-adjacent scent of the salve pulled him out of his own head. He couldn’t get lost in thought when there were four other people on this ship, ninety nine people on the Hope, and possibly every person in Halcyon. It would take a while to kick in, but hopefully it would be enough to stave off the tension headache threatening to start. 

Painkillers needed to be saved for when they had bullet wounds and plasma burns. 

In the middle of smearing the paste all over his neck, Sylas heard a quiet knock on the door to the room. 

“It’s open!” he called out and the door opened a moment later to reveal a skittish looking Pavarti. 

“Captain, I finished- Oh dear, Captain,” Pavarti said, freezing in place. “I didn’t realize how bad you got hit by those spitting rapts!”

“Yeah,” Sylas said with an awkward shrug, watching her stare just a minute longer than would have been appropriate before averting her gaze. “Dr.Fenhill did the best she could, the rest is just giving it time…”

“What’s that weird smell?” 

“Muscle relaxing rub from Adelaide,” Sylas replied, closing the jar and putting his shirt back on. She had said when they were out that she wasn’t into physical affection and he didn't want to push any buttons.He knew how it felt to be thought of as cold in that way and that these kinds of situations could give people like them the spooks, shirt stains be damned. “What can I help you with?”

“Oh, I just wanted to check on you, you know,” she said, rubbing her neck. “After you told me about the Hope and the time thing you do and everything that happened with Edgewater, you seemed to avoid me. I let it settle for a few days, but if I’m going to be helping on the ship, I don’t want a rift between us.”

Sylas sat down on his bed and looked at her as she seemed to do everything she could to not make eye contact. It was a bold move for her, but it was taking its toll on her already high anxiety.

“You’re right,” Sylas said quietly, looking at his folded hands. “I feel guilty for not taking your advice back at the powerplant. I thought what I was doing would help keep the most people alive, but it turned out that I just doomed your community to death by bullet or starvation.”

“I hoped that more people would seek out the Botanical garden, too,” Parvati replied. “And we couldn’t just let ourselves get killed on our way out. What Adelaide was doing was beautiful, even if she was such a spiteful person.”

“What I’m saying is that I should have trusted your judgement,” Sylas said, looking up and making eye contact with her. “You took the news that I was from The Hope so well and I should have listened to you. You lived there most of your life and I am, culturally, in over my head. I’m sorry I led you into that situation and I am going to try my hardest to not doom more communities in the future.”

Parvati sat in his desk chair and turned to face him. 

“I really appreciate it. It was… hard leaving Edgewater the way we did. But I know that I never really fit in with them and I wouldn’t have if I stayed. I am really grateful that you welcomed me on this ship with open arms. I really hope that we can make the colony a better place.”

Sylas hated to see the poorly hidden grief, but it was as best of a situation as he could hope for given his past mistakes. 

“Then, let's keep working towards a better future. I really appreciate everything you have done for The Unreliable and when watching my back,” he said, leaning back and trying to relax. It was a step forward and Pavarti was the one he wanted to not hesitate calling him out when he was making poor decisions. “Oh, how is chatting with Junlei going?”

He couldn’t hide his grin as Pavarti’s eyes lit up as she described all the things she had learned over the time they had spent in Rosewater. He wasn’t really sure what she was talking about when it came to the mechanics of the ship, but he did his best to follow. He was grateful for her close eye to details, especially since he was still unsure if the name “The Unreliable” was a description or a joke. 

“Oh, it seems like I have nearly talked your ear off,” Parvati said as she looked to her watch. 

“I don’t mind listening to your interests, but I did want to have a meeting with everyone about what we are doing going forward,” Sylas replied, standing up and stretching.

“Oh, that sounds good. We should have a gameplan for Monarch,” she said, standing with a small bounce. “Are you going to tell them about where you came from?”

Sylas sighed, knowing that would probably have to come out at some point.

“Not yet,” he decided. “Maybe if something big comes up on Monarch, but it’s too early to bring them permanently without me not knowing where it is going to go. I trust you to not go blabbering to the Board, but I don’t know about anyone else.”

“I don’t know, Felix really doesn’t like the Board.”

“I guess, but if Felix gets captured, I don’t know what they would do to break him.”

Parvati blinked without saying anything for a moment.

“Do you think they would do that?” she asked in a small voice.

“I don’t know, that’s why I don’t want to risk it.”

“Ok, that make’s sense, Captain,” Parvati said, stiffening as if to steel her will. “I won’t tell them until you want to talk about it.” 

“Thanks for understanding,” Sylas said with a grin. “Would you mind gathering the other in the common area while I grab some things in here? Oh and you can use my actual name.”

“You got it, Cap- Sylas,” Parvarti said before heading out and up the stairs. 

Sylas rubbed his face and took a deep breath. He could do this. He grabbed the stack of bit cartridges before heading up stairs to face the rest of his staff. 

  
  


Max DeSoto finished cleaning up his private room more quickly than he had planned, even after giving the armor the Captain “provided” several passes with the industrial cleaner he found in SAM’s docking chamber. Whatever body Sylas had pulled this armor from, he didn’t think to clean the blood completely off before issuing it to a crew member. 

At least they would be heading to Monarch soon. He could finish up with this deal he made with the man who emerged from under some fucking rock to not know anything about Halcyon or the customs that come with inhabiting this solar system. Once he got what he needed from Reginald Chaney, he could finally return to deciphering the Plan. 

A fucking wild way for it to take him, but he has yet to be corrected like last time, so helping the captain of the Unreliable was his best option going forward. If only the man would pick up his feet and get moving instead of helping any wayward soul with their mortal whims. 

“Uh, Mr.Vicar,” said a timid voice from the doorway. He looked up from his intense focus on Bakonu’s journal to see Parvati leaning into his room. “I don’t want to interrupt your studies or nothin, but the Captain requested we meet in the mess for a crew meetin’.”

Max took a deep breath before nodding. Another unnecessary step on the way to the truth. The Law seemed tedious at times. 

“I will be there momentarily, Ms. Holcomb.”

With her usual friendly smile, she moved on to Felix’s room across the hall. He wasn’t sure what the Captain could say that needed to be addressed to the group as a whole. He gently placed Bakonu’s book onto his shelf and dusted himself off before heading out to the common room. 

Ellie sat at the dining table nursing a Spectrum Vodka as she waited. Parvati and Felix sat down together, chatting about the latest aetherwave serial that they had both seen. Max headed to the other side of the table and leaned on the side of the refrigerator, watching as Sylas entered the room, a small slip of paper resting upon a stack of bit cartridges in his hands. 

Max studied Sylas, watching as he set down the cartridges. He had a short,stocky frame with strong muscle under a softer shape. It worked well for him out in the field from what Max had seen. If the man wasn’t able to pick off hostiles with his rifle, he would join Max’s side in the front line with a heavy weapon to crush anything left. 

The power used in a fight didn’t match his demeanor when dealing with people willing to talk, however. The man underneath the glasses and dyed purple undercut, while being fairly well versed in the art of diplomacy when needed, didn’t seem to have any idea what was going on. When Sylas first appeared in his office in Edgewater, Max had to explain to him what Scientism was as if he hadn’t lived a day in Halcyon society. He would have thought the Captain daft if he hadn’t then continued to question the core tenants of the OSI with careful forethought and verity. 

“Is there an issue, Vicar?” Sylas asked, walking forward and handing him one of the bit cartridges. 

“No,” Max responded with a shake of his head. “You just caught me ruminating again.”

With a small smile and a nod, the captain returned to the head of the tabel after handing a cartridge to each of the other crew members. Looking at his own cartridge, he saw that there were a sizable amount of bits there, more than he knew even a well paid crew would make.

“This is your first week's pay for your help on the Unreliable,” Sylas said, addressing the room before glimpsing at his notes. “I picked you all up in a disorganized fashion and I wanted to lay the ground rules now that we will be working together. Our next stop in Monarch and I foresee us working there for a while, so if that isn’t a place you want to settle down in for a month or so, feel free to leave now.”

“At this rate, I’ll patch you up while you’re still getting chewed on by a rapt, Captain,” Dr.Fenhill joked as she pocketed the cartridge. “Unless you’re gonna ask for room and board back…”

Sylas shook his head.

“If I was going to do that, I would have already taken the money out. I expect good work from all of you,” Sylas explained, looking at each person individually. 

When Max met his gaze, he narrowed his eyes. This seemed too good to be true, but if there was something the Captain was hiding, then he was doing a damned good job at keeping quiet.

“You’ll get paid by the week and be expected to accompany me on jobs. When you aren’t with me, I expect you to either be on call or picking up day work planet side. I don’t care what you choose to do to earn bits, just don’t be an asshole about it. Keep track of what you earn individuality, half goes towards your base pay, the rest is yours. If you pick up more than your base pay, then you keep the rest.”

Sylas was the generous sort, but these rules were terribly lenient when compared to literally any other captain he had met, in prison or out. 

“Basic food staples will be provided. Anything else, including your beverages of choice outside of water, are on your own dime,” Sylas stated, only looking at Dr.Fenhill for slightly longer than what would be courteous. 

“Whats a dime?” Felix asked, looking between the Captain and Pavarti. 

“Just a saying,” Sylas waved off. “Buy your own booze. Put your name on it if you keep it in the kitchen and don’t want it to be consumed. Keep your room clean if you don't want SAM to do it for you. We are all adults here.”

Max glanced at Felix, who was fiddling with a toss ball as the Captain spoke. 

Some acted like adults more than others. 

“Well I think that’s all,” Sylas concluded, picking up his note. “If we don’t have any questions or people itching to leave, then we will start heading towards Monarch in twenty or so minutes. “

“Sounds right by me, Cap- Sylas,” Pavarti corrected. “I’ll go make sure the engine is ready to go.” 

With some murmured thanks, the group broke off. Sylas’s shoulders relaxed for the first time since he entered the room. Max approached, looking down to the shorter man as he crouched and pulled a mock apple cider out of a small cooler. 

“May I speak to you in private? I have some questions about our current arrangement,” Max asked, hands behind his back. 

“Sure, Vicar,” Sylas replied, twisting off the top of the drink. “In here or your room?”

“Mine will do,” Max said before heading down the hallway and turning into his room. He heard the pair of bare feet pad after him and shut the door as Max sat in his usual spot. Sylas followed, took the chair across from him and took a sip from his drink. His face scrunched slightly as he swallowed. “Not a fan of Mock apple cider?”

“I was expecting a different taste,” Syleas explained with a shrug. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Your choice of pay rate is very interesting,” Max replied, not directly pointing out Sylas’s dodging the question. “Is there something you know about what is happening on Monarch that you aren’t telling us?”

“I’m surprised you didn’t bring this up at the meeting,” Sylas replied, his green eyes not meeting Max’s as he took another drink. 

“I didn’t want to make undue assumptions about the captain in front of the whole crew.”

“Ah, so you only seek to put down your crewmates and not me,”Sylas replied with a small smirk. “I should be honored.”

Max frowned and stared at Sylas, not appreciating the humor he got out of Max’s attempt at being respectful of Sylas’ authority.

“Well, if you’re going to glare I guess I must answer your question. To be honest, I have never been to Monarch, but I know that, wherever my task leads us, we will probably be dealing with things above a usual crew member’s pay grade. I might as well make it worth your while.”

Max studied Sylas’ face, trying to use his years of counseling to pick up on something that the man wasn’t telling him. He wore his emotions on his sleeve, but Max couldn’t tell if the things he wasn’t being forthright with were personal or affected the whole crew. 

“What do you need to do on Monarch?” Max asked. He had said he had something he needed to get done on Monarch, but never mentioned what it was exactly.

“A friend of mine hired the Information Broker for his services and the broker hasn’t gotten back. We are going to see what the hangup is amongst other things, like getting a translator for your book,” Sylas explained, pointing to the bookshelf with his bottle, “finding some rare expensive gas that may explode for SubLight, and who knows what I’m forgetting. We’ve got a long to do list.”

Max hadn’t been present when Sylas visited Sublight, but he had heard Felix’s excited rendition of the encounter from the mess when they returned. Max took a deep breath and tried to bury his disappointment and impatience. The Plan would lead him to what he needed in due time, he just needed to follow. 

“Why’d you become a priest, Max?” Sylas asked before taking a swig of his drink. “You don’t seem the type to be interested in leading people to enlightenment.”

“Guiding the lay people is a less than ideal side duty of holding a position in OSI,” Max explained, leaning back. “I became a Vicar to pursue the truth of the Universal equation. Once the plan is uncovered fully, we will all know true peace.”

Sylas swirled the remaining liquid in his bottle, watching the cider flow in a circle. 

“And so the rest of us are shit out of luck until you all figure it out? Even though this equation is theoretically infinite in size and complexity due to the vast expanse of the universe and the infinite nature of time?”

“The further we progress in deciphering the Plan, the easier following the Plan will be. So we will progressively grow more peaceful,” Max retorted. “So, no, we are not ‘shit out of luck’, so to speak. Progression towards perfection is slow.“

“Being told every single thing I need to do for my whole life doesn’t sound very fulfilling,” Sylas ruminated. “I did enough following what I ‘should’ have been when I was younger and I ended up an empty shell of a person because of it. But maybe I just wasn’t following the ‘Path’.”

“Currently we can only see our deviations from the Path in the retrospective,” Max agreed. He pulled out a shallow glass and poured some Iceberg Aged Whiskey out from his OSI vial. Despite being an enigma amongst the people of Halcyon, Sylas was someone he could get used to talking to. Intelligent, willing to make decisions, and just enough of a bastard to keep Max interested. 

Being easy on the eyes didn’t hurt either. 

Before he could really evaluate the last thought, Max refocused on the man in front of him, raising his glass in a toast.

“In the pursuit of peace?” Max offered. 

Sylas cocked an eyebrow as he looked between Max, the vial, and the glass, but shrugged. 

“I can drink to that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for checking out my fic! Expect some Felix next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

“We have arrived at Stellar Bay, Monarch,” ADA announced to the ship. 

Felix Millstone stashed his tossball cards and rushed down to the bridge, hopping the last stairwell to see the new world as they landed. Monarch looked insane on “Terror on Monarch”, so he couldn’t miss seeing the real thing. Terra II was beautiful, if overwhelming, compared to the Groundbreaker, but he got his bearings pretty quickly. 

In his haste, he crashed into the Boss and sent them both into the glass between ADA’s station and the Nav system. 

“Captain, Felix is making his way down post-” ADA started. “Oh, nevermind. You know…”

“Thank you, ADA,” the Captain groaned from between the window and Felix’s form. “How you doin’, Felix?”

Felix’s stomach dropped as he tried to scramble off the Captain. He tried to get up without getting handsy, but kept slipping until the boss helped him with a shove. 

“Sorry Boss, didn’t see ya there,” Felix said as he stood up, rubbing the back of his neck. “I heard the announcement and I wanted to see Monarch for myself to see if it’s as good as on the serials.”

“Right, well, I hope you take on rapts with the same enthusiasm,” Sylas said as he stood up and rubbed his shoulder with a wince. 

“You don’t have to worry about that, Boss,” Felix assured, taking a deep breath to recover. He had only been on the job a week and he couldn’t be flubbing up now. “I got your back.”

“I can tell,” Sylas replied with a chuckle before looking out over the area as the Unreliable landed. 

Felix decided to not think too hard on that reply and instead took in the scenery. Stellar Bay wasn’t a huge town, but it was teeming with people walking around. Monarch had been freed from the shackles of the Board and the bustle matched what he knew on the Groundbreaker. Out beyond the walls was a wild territory of vibrant reds and yellows. The rocky bluffs were more imposing in person than they were on the serials, but that meant that there was more mystery to explore. 

“It’s real pretty,” Sylas murmured, eyes wide as he looked out to the wilds beyond. 

“I guess you could say that,” Felix said with a shrug. He wasn’t sure why the boss was getting sentimental over a planet that was bound to try and kill him. Felix would make sure that didn’t happen. “You ready to head out, Boss?”

Sylas sighed a little before nodding. 

“Go grab Parvati,” Sylas said before heading to the lockers outside the bridge to grab his weapons. 

Felix headed to the cargo bay, seeing the silhouette of the mechanic working on SAM. 

“Parvati, you’re with me and the Boss today,” he called up. 

“Really?!” he heard in response followed by some shuffling. “I’ll be down in a minute! Gotta grab my tools!”

Felix shrugged and grabbed his tossball stick from the hold and met back up with Sylas at the airlock. 

“I’m going to get the lay of the land today in Stellar Bay and the surrounding area,” Sylas said to the Vicar and Ellie. “I’ll get in contact with the hunter my friend suggested and we’ll probably head further out tomorrow. I’ll bring you along then, Max.”

“Until then, It’s just you and me, Vicky,” Ellie teased, crossing her arms. 

“I am overjoyed,” the Vicar deadpanned in response. 

“Play nice,” Sylas warned in a low voice. “Ellie, if you’re going to go find a bar, please mind how much you drink. If one of us gets hurt, I’ll need your steady hand.”

“You got it, Cap,” Ellie said with a nod and gave a sharp salute. 

Felix looked between Ellie and Sylas, not sure if this was a thing you did when on a space crew, but Sylas didn’t seem impressed. 

“We’re not in the army, Dr. Fenhill,” Sylas replied, putting on his wide brimmed hat. “No need to salute. Max, you’re free for the day. Grab what you think you’ll need for tomorrow.”

With a nod, the Vicar headed back up the stairs. Of course he wouldn’t be excited to have a day off. 

“Corporate tool,” Felix growled under his breath. Felix had yet to spend a good amount of time with the guy and not hear some kind of advice about the Law or how he needed to straighten up his fighting style. 

“You need to play nice too,” Slysas said, looking at him from the side with a small smirk. “He has some good points if you’d listen.”

It was hard to hear those words coming from someone who looked like the hero from some outlaw scientist serial who takes down a corrupt corporation through an even mix of witty comebacks and well placed head shots. Fe was telling Felix to listen to _the Vicar._

“Ok, don’t give me that look,” Sylas continued, crossing his arms and facing him. “I know he’s an ass-”

“He works for the fucking board, spreading propaganda, Boss!” Felix insisted. 

“Yes, I know,” Sylas responded, looking at Felix from over his eyeglasses. “However, it’s good to know the arguments they make from someone at least somewhat sympathetic to the cause. You learn how they think, and then you can turn that thinking against them if they are open enough.”

Felix sighed, all this prep and planning feeling very slow. 

“You think he’s open, boss?” Felix asked. Vic didn’t seem too open…

“I do,” Sylas said with a genuine smile before glancing over Felix’s shoulder. “Looks like we’re ready.”

“Sorry I took so long, Sylas,” Parvati said, resting her impact hammer on her shoulder. “Thought you were bringin’ along Vicar DeSoto like usual.”

“Nah, I need my right hand woman to make sure I don’t get in too deep into my own head,” Sylas replied, heading out the airlock. 

“Aww, Captain,” Parvati replied as she followed. 

Felix brought up the rear, trying to not brood on the fact that the Captain seemed to just be bringing him along for his muscle. That was what he hired him to do after all, not to think too hard.

  
  


After a morning of walking and chatting, Sylas had added more things to his to-do list and crossed none of the prior ones off. The longest conversation was with Sanjar Nandi, head of MSI, who was trying to get back in league with the Board. He had been the nicest of the corporations so far, even if it seemed like he relied heavily on his assistant to keep organized. 

It didn’t help that Felix was being grumpy throughout the whole morning either. It wasn’t that he wasn’t happy to be exploring a new place, but his responses were short and to the point and he barely even chatted with Parvati as they walked.

Sylas took a deep breath, knowing that it was probably his fault Felix was in a bad mood. The man didn’t like being told what to do and liked Max even less. 

Sylas wished the crew didn’t seem to get up in each other’s nerves all the time. Each of them had their faults and Sylas just had to be the one to bring them on a ship and force them to work together. 

Walking toward the apartments to check out a missing worker’s residence, a janitor rushed out in a panic.

“There’s been a murder!” he cried before stumbling to the ground. 

Sylas jogged up and offered a hand to the man.

“Thanks, man. Don’t head into the apartment on the bottom right,” the man stammered out before nearly running off towards the bar. 

Sylas looked to his companions, and smiled when Felix seemed to have gotten his spirits up at the prospect of an investigation. Parvati looked nervous, but she followed the two men into the complex. 

“Parvati, do you want to go check on the missing guys room while Felix and I investigate the murder?” Sylas asked when they got into the building.

“Yes, please,” Parvati replied before rushing upstairs. 

“This is going to be just like that one episode of Singularity Steel!” Felix said excitedly.

“Alright, make sure not to touch anything important unless it really looks like a clue,” Sylas advised, turning into the room and stopping.

He had seen a lot of dead bodies since he woke up, many of whom he had caused in the name of self defence, but this was gruesome. The body of the man lay in the middle of the kitchen, blood sprayed all over the floor and cabinets. The rest of the room looked to be turned over for valuables. Sylas stepped into the room, trying to avoid stepping in the blood. 

“Boss, there’s a bag of clothes hanging over here,” Felix said, holding up a messenger bag crammed full of clothes. “Looks like he was tryin’ to get outta here in a hurry.”

Sylas glanced over before looking at some papers left on the desk. One of the slips had a list of wadgers on a series of tossball games.

“Looks like this Issac fellow had bad luck at Left Field Tossball Betting,” Sylas read. “I take it ‘Mostly Colonists’ are not a good team…”

“Almost as bad as the Darlings,” Felix said with a slight frown. “You think someone killed him because he didn’t pay his dues?”

“Probably,”Sylas affirmed. “Lets grab Parvati and head over to the betting place, see if they remember Issac and who would be mad at him.”

Heading out of the building, they found Parvati waiting with info that their missing person went to visit a family outside the walls. 

“Are we going to go find him, Captain?” Parvati asked as Sylas started in the direction of the Betting house. 

“Yes, but we’ve got something to check out in town first.”

“We are on the case of a murder,” Felix replied, almost giddy. “And we get to go to a Tossball bar on the way! I wonder what games are on right now?”

“Felix, a man was killed!” Pavarti replied, stunned. “But this does sound like it’s out of a serial…”

Sylas laughed to himself as they continued on. These two were as new to spacefaring as he was, but they had a lifetime of media to hype up the idea of adventure. 

Well, it was the same on earth, but with an additional ten year time skip. 

That turned into a seventy year time skip with the added bonus of having to save a solar system and only partially controlled time-slowing powers. 

Sylas shook thoughts of a life long past and all the people who’s survival rests on his shoulders as Felix rushed ahead into the “Left Field Tossball Betting”, which looked to be a small sports bar. Inside was as he expected: several screens showing different tossball games and a bar where a few people watched with a few beverages. Felix had already approached the bar and caught the attention of the bartender, who had been watching one of the games prior.

“Oh! You all must be the new faces I’ve been hearing about,” the woman said, looking at their trio as she leaned on the bar. She looked relatively plain compared to the abundance of colorful hair and make up he had seen in Halcyon so far amongst those in more wealthy areas. Probably because she was in a service job. “You all must be up on the latest tossball games.”

Sylas tried to give a genuine smile while looking over to Parvati, who seemed to be just as confused as he was. 

“Who do you follow?” the bartender asked, her name tag saying her name was Nell. “Wait, no, don’t tell me. You look like a Hammersmith Thunder fan! No, Glacial age Mammoths,” she continued with a nod. 

“I-” Sylas stuttered, still not sure what kind of game tossball was. Based on the bat Felix carried, it reminded him of lacrosse on earth, but much more violent. He turned to Felix for back up, but found that the only true tossball fan of their current party seemed to be enthralled by the bar and it’s bartender. 

“I follow the Rangers myself,” Felix stepped in, leaning on the counter. “You get to listen to the game’s all day? Stellar Bay really is a paradise.”

“It’s pretty swell, but it’s a whole lot better with company,” Nell replied, turning to face Felix directly. “Say, I don’t think I’ve seen you before. And I would have remembered that face.”

It took Sylas a few moments to realize what was playing out in front of him. Felix was flirting with Nell. 

And she was flirting back. 

Sylas stiffened, but couldn’t say anything. A pit formed in his stomach, vibrating with the urge to do almost anything to just drag Felix and Parvati out of there and never come back. 

“I’ll try not to be a stranger, then,” Felix said with a slight smile. “Name’s Felix, by the way.”

Sylas stood frozen for a few more moments before he looked away. This feeling was irrational and definitely out of line. He had known Felix for just over a week and Sylas had no reason to suddenly feel territorial. He had every right to flirt with whomever he pleased. 

That sentiment didn’t quell his frustration, however.

“You should stop by more often. The games are always better when you’ve got someone to celebrate with.”

Sylas glanced over to Parvati, who looked back at him with a slight head tilt. She had picked up on something going on with Sylas, but wasn’t sure if it meant they needed to leave or wait.

“Sounds like a good time,” Felix said in a low, slow voice, sinking more into this lean. “I wouldn’t mind bringing a couple drinks and settling in for the pennant match.”

That tone grated on Sylas’s ears like nails on slate. Sylas returned his gaze to Nell, eyes boring into her.

That’s when Nell made eye contact with Sylas for the first time since Felix spoke up and froze on the spot. 

“Ha, look at me, getting carried away again,” Nell said, straightening up and giving a nervous laugh. “What can I do for you?”

The rest of the conversation happened under a minute, where Nell explained that a group of bullies from Fallbrook were harassing Issac a few nights before and that they tend to mull around in an alley near the “Yacht Club”. 

With a curt “thanks”, Sylas was back out on the street with the strong urge to deal with the confusing emotions in his chest through a good dose of vigilante justice. 

  
  


Felix followed as Sylas marched down Stellar Bay’s main street, telescoping staff resting on his shoulder. He placed a hand on Parvati’s shoulder before pulling back on him a bit.

“What happened to the boss?” Felix asked in a whisper, not sure why Sylas was suddenly a man on a mission to deal with a murder of someone he didn’t even know. He was in a fine mood before they got to the betting house.

“I dunno, Felix,” Parvati replied, keeping an eye on Sylas. “He got real stiff when you started talking tossball with Nell. He was staring cutters at her by the time she noticed.”

Felix frowned, not sure what this all meant. First the boss corrects him and praises Parvati for her reliability and then gets huffy when Felix showed interest in someone who cared about tossball as much as he did. He appreciated the boss hiring him on and getting him off Groundbreaker, but if he was gonna police who he thought Felix should and shouldn’t talk to, he had another thing coming. 

But the confrontation would have to wait until later, because Sylas ducked into an alley and both him and Parvati had to run to catch up. 

“Hey, what’re you doing here?” a gruff voice growled from around the corner. “This is _our_ secret alley. Berta already pissed by those crates to mark it.”

Felix had to stop a moment when he was confronted by the scene as it started to play out. The boss stood in the middle of four, well-armed thugs who had a couple of inches each in height advantage on him, stalking forward towards the leader. The telescoping staff hung at his side, but Felix could tell by the grip that the boss would be ready to use it in a moment’s notice.

And then be riddled with bullets a moment later.

Felix had never seen this side of Sylas, and they had been in the field together since Felix had been brought on. Sylas never really got in close to their targets, usually preferring to pick them off from a distance with the sniper rifle that still hung on the man’s back. Sylas was usually laid back, but his steps were focused and intense in their anger. 

This shift scared Felix.

The sudden thought of being on the receiving end of that intensity should have also scared him, but he knew that wasn’t the feeling the thought brought forward.

“I know you murdered Isacc,” Sylas replied in a low tone, getting within a few feet of the ringleader.

“That twerp had it coming. Not that anyone has proof.” the leader defended, not moving an inch. “And not that it’s any of your business.”

Sylas closed the gap, getting right in the man’s face.

“I’m making it my business.”

The leader leaned back slightly. The boss was shorter than the man, but he made up for it in pure presence. 

“Oh yeah?” the man asked, only a slight tone change to hint that he was afraid. “What are you saying, exactly?”

Felix blinked and then there was a thud. Sylas had the man pinned to the wall, body tensed, ready for retaliation. The other thugs pulled their weapons, but hesitated in firing. 

“Clear out,” Sylas snarled, his nose nearly touching the leader’s. “Don’t come back.”

Felix readied his tossball stick in case the tension broke in a more violent way. The leader’s eyes darted between Sylas and his own crew. 

“Fine, we’ll go.” the leader responded, his voice shaking despite his efforts. Despite having the numbers advantage, this would be a loss on his end if it got violent. “This ain’t worth it.”

Sylas pulled back and shoved the leader towards the gate, eyes boring into him as the man stumbled and scrambled away. He didn’t relax until the whole gang was through, his stance deflating as soon as the gate closed. His shoulders slumped and he looked to the ground, the brim of his hat hiding his eyes.

Felix stayed rooted on spot. He knew people with anger problems. Hell, he was one of them. He just wasn’t sure what kind the boss dealt with. 

“Sy,” Parvati tested, leaning forward slightly, but not moving from her place. “You alright?”

Sylas compressed the telescoping staff and returned it to the holder on his back. Felix still wasn’t sure if he cooled down or if the cold rage had compressed and would spark at them. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Sylas finally said, looking up at Parvati. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Not scared,” Parvati corrected, taking a few steps forward. “Just worried. Haven’t seen you like that before.”

“I’m usually better at keeping my emotions in check,” Sylas replied, glancing over at Felix before returning his gaze to Parvati. “I don’t like getting angry.” 

As Pavarti closed the distance to Sylas, Felix turned to look out of the alley. No one seemed to have noticed, or cared, about the altercation and the thugs didn’t come back. The boss didn’t seem to want to talk to him at the moment, so he’d make himself useful. 

A moment later, two sets of footsteps came up behind him. 

“Let’s go,” Sylas said with a softness he didn’t have before and moved past him in the street. “We need to tell Sanjar and then I’m done for today.”

“You got it, Boss.”

  
  
  


Max sat at his desk, trying to reread _Of Equity and Equations_ , which used to bring him some comfort in times of duress. But, since learning of Bakonu’s journal true contents, he couldn’t get quite as much reassurance from OSI’s foundational texts. 

“It is all a part of the Plan,” he reminded himself, closing the book. 

“Welcome back, Captain,” ADA announced. 

Max checked his watch. They had gotten back several hours before he had expected. He stood up and stood in the doorway to his room. 

There was no conversation as the sounds of footsteps came up the stairwell. He heard the door to the Captain’s quarters open and close. Felix ascended the stairs soon after and retired to his room, closing the door behind him. 

Max blinked, and looked down the hall to see Ellie leaning on her door frame, eyebrow cocked in confusion. 

“What’s gotten into him?” she mouthed, jerking her head towards Felix’s room. 

“I have no idea,” Max replied before watching Pavarti climb the stairs looking back over her shoulder for a moment before sighing. “How was your first excursion onto Monarch, Ms.Holcomb?”

Pavarti looked to Felix’s closed door before turning to Max.

“We were doin’ alright for a while. Felix was a bit grumpy at first, but he perked up oonce we got goin’,” Parvati explained. “The Captain picked up some work and we were gonna head to the ruins outside the wall when there was a murder. We ended up at a tossball themed bar to investigate and Felix was getting along well with the bartender lady.”

“I don’t see how Felix flirting fits in with the current situation,” Ellie said, crossing her arms.

“Let her finish,” Max replied, before turning back to Parvati. 

“Then the Captain got all stiff like,” Parvati continued, tensing up to illustrate her point. “Was glaring at the bartender until she noticed and then he was real curt. We left and he beelined it up to where the thugs that killed the guy were waiting. Sylas just strode on in there like he was undefeatable and roughed up the leader a bit before scaring the crew back to Fallbrook.”

This outburst sounded quite out of character for the captain, who was generally quiet and laid back since Max had met him in Edgewater. But as someone who knows how easy it is to give into rage, maybe the captain just had a decent hold on that anger. 

“He was real scary there for a minute. But then he just seemed disappointed in himself.”

So, Max was not the only one who could succumb to violent enthusiasm. 

“Sounds like the captain may have gotten a bit jealous,” Ellie said in a singsong voice. “I’ve seen my fair share of men getting huffy after someone elses flirts with the object of their affection.”

“You think so, Ellie?” Parvati asked with a slight frown. 

“Or he’s a secret asshole,” Ellie added. 

That didn’t seem to comfort Parvati. 

“Would you like to talk more about it privately, Ms.Holcomb?” Max asked, folding his hands behind his back. “This seems to have really shaken you.”

“I appreciate the offer, Mr. Vicar,” Parvati replied, taking a step towards her room. “But you know I’m not one for confessionals. But Sylas seems to like talkin’ to you, he may appreciate it.”

Max gave her nod as she retired to her room. She was right about the Captain seeming to enjoy their discussions, but this may not be the best time. 

He heard the door on the platform below open and close once again, the soft steps of bare feet heading down the stairwell and out of earshot. 

Or maybe it was the perfect time for him to actually perform his Vicar duties on the Unreliable. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Sylas had gotten out all the little sorting tubs Parvati organized for breaking down surplus gear and weapons they found on their excursions when he finished his first bottle of Tripistout. It was more bitter than the stouts back on earth, but it was a thousand times better than that Zero-Gee stuff they peddled at the Spacer’s Choice stands. 

He pulled the second bottle out, popped the cap, and began the tedious process of dismantling all the salvage they had accumulated in the last few days. The individual components sold more readily than assembled, but mostly damaged, devices. Plus, if either he or Parvati needed parts for a project, they had a lot of options to choose from. 

He had only removed the first screw when he heard footsteps coming down the stairwell. Didn't sound like metal on metal, so they couldn’t be SAM. Too quiet to be boots, so it couldn’t have been Felix or Parvati. Too slow for Ellie. 

Must have been the Vicar.

Sylas continued, prying off the outer plate of one of the helmets to get at the ocular pieces inside. The footsteps stopped at the door from the airlock into the cargo bay and he felt eyes on his back. He gently set the plate into the pile of scrap metal before reaching for his drink. 

“Take a picture. It’ll last longer,” Sylas said before taking a sip. He heard a small chuckle in response, confirming that the person watching was in fact Max. Now it was his turn to be put off by Sylas’ mood swings. 

“What are we thinking about today?” Max asked, walking forward and looking over the workstation. 

“Not everyone ruminates when they are alone like you, preacher,” Sylas responded, getting back to teasing wires from sockets. 

“I do more than preach, Captain,” Max replied in a warning tone. “You spend enough time alone that makes me think you also enjoy introspection. And scrapping is the perfect activity to occupy anxious hands while the mind wanders.”

Sylas rested his hands on either side of the frame of the helmet, tools sitting idle for a moment. Max was ever observant, probably left over from years tending his flocks. 

“I suppose I am mourning the fact that I have turned into my father,” Sylas said after a moment before returning to his project. 

Max’s confused hum was worth telling the truth. It was hard to throw the Vicar off guard, and Sylas would take the small joys where he could get them. 

“Care to elaborate?”

“Bouts of explosive anger, drinking bad beer, and working on guns?” Sylas listed. “Though I think he’d be a Zero Gee fan and I can’t touch the stuff.”

“A drink for the desperate, indeed,” Max remarked with disgust. “What did your father do?”

“He was a mechanic, but liked to hunt when he had the time for it,” Sylas replied, sorting the last pieces of the helmet and pulling out a pistol they pulled off some marauders. “Mom had a government job. What about your folks?”

He didn’t want to talk about what happened earlier with Felix. It was probably why Max was down here talking to him in the first place. Word got around fast when there were only six sets of ears to hear them. 

But Sylas wanted to enjoy a simple conversation a little longer. 

“They were both laborers,” Max replied, moving to lean against the wall next to the workstation. “They had the purest faith in the Plan that I have ever known. Do you speak with your family often?”

“No, the last time I talked to them or my brother was right before I left to come to Halcyon,” Sylas said before really considering what that meant. He didn’t want to bother the crew just yet with the oddity that was the alive and well Sylas Holzer in Halcyon.

“What colony are you from originally?” Max asked, seeming to be genuinely interested in Sylas’ past.

“It doesn’t matter,” Sylas deflected. “I’m here now.”

“Humor me.”

“You wouldn’t believe it if I told you the truth.”

“I should decide that for myself.”

Sylas stopped his tinkering and looked at Max in the eye. The older man was just as unreadable as ever. 

“I’m from Earth,” Sylas responded, waiting for Max’s reply.

“You’re right, I don’t believe you,” Max said after a few moments, “and I don’t appreciate being mocked.”

Sylas rolled his eyes and went back to his work. 

“What do you want, Max?” Sylas asked, knowing he would get the same response as when he had told anyone else was from Earth, save Parvati. She was confused, but eventually believed him when he explained the whole ordeal with The Hope and the mad scientist known as Phineas Welles. 

“Ms.Holcomb was worried about your mental state after your altercation in the city’s alleys,” Max said, moving onto the real subject at hand. “By her description, you unleashed a more than expected amount of pent up emotion on an unsuspecting ne’er-do-well.”

Of course Parvati was worried. She had made that apparent enough once the thugs turned tail and ran. She wanted to make sure he hadn’t hurt himself in confronting the leader.

“Yeah, I lost my cool,” Sylas said, picking up his drink and taking a large gulp. “Though, it’s interesting that you come down to check, being ‘violently enthusiastic’ about your own pursuits.”

“Well, a part of my contract with the Unreliable is to provide my counseling services to the crew, which includes you,” Max replied with the hint of a smile that always got Sylas lower his guard. “And having lived with my own short temper for several decades now, I could offer some advice if it would help.”

“Well, lucky for you, you aren’t the only one who has lived with a short fuse,” Sylas shot back. “It has been a stressful few weeks and I had a... moment of weakness. I would never snap like that at any of our crewmembers, if that is what Parvati is worried about.”

Parvati should know he wouldn’t try to hurt any of them out of anger. He knew well enough how dangerous this type of anger was and he spent years reigning it in so he would never lose control on someone he loved like his dad did. Sylas had been successful so far.

“I’m sure you wouldn’t,” Max started. “But if a crew member exploring the possibility of extracurricular activities causes a ‘moment of weakness’, everyone should be worried.”

Sylas regretted drinking so much before this moment. It felt like it was going to come up at any time now, and his face warming wasn’t just due to alcohol induced flushing. 

“I was caught off guard by Felix,” Sylas explained, skirting around the core of his outburst until he had time to process it himself. “I won’t let it happen again. I promise.”

Max eyed him closely, but eventually straightened up. 

“I won’t force you to speak on it if you wish not to,” he replied. “My room is always free when you’re ready.”

“Thank you, Max,” Sylas said, not sure if it was to the offer of counsel in the future or the cessation of questioning. 

“You are welcome, Captain.”

  
  


Felix laid in his bunk, trying to tune the aetherwave enough to pick up the Mammoth’s vs Darlings live commentary. He knew even before hearing the score that the game was close by how fast the announcers were talking, but at least it would be engaging enough to distract from the day. 

The door to his room was solid, but not soundproof. He didn’t want to think about the possibility that the boss had feelings for him. The boss was the coolest, but it didn’t make sense for him to be interested in a Back Bays kid like Felix. 

He continued to listen to the broadcast, happy to hear that the Mammoths’ primary hacker took out the Darling’s 8th and 10th backs before allowing one of the other’s to make a body goal. The Rangers would have done it with more injuries, but there was something to say for efficient finesse. Not his style, but it was a style. The rest of the game went as smooth as could have been expected. The darlings lost, but it wasn’t an utter slaughter like Felix hoped. Maybe this loss will give the Rangers a chance to finally teach the Darlings a lesson. 

His stomach growled as he checked the time. He had been holed up in his bunk for nearly two hours after a day of trudging around the city. He stood up and stretched, sore muscles from hauling around heavy armor protesting against getting up out of bed. But his stomach would continue to groan until he fed it. 

Opening the door, the smell of cooking cisty pig hit his nose and his mouth began to water. Hopefully whoever was cooking was willing to share. He quickly walked into the mess to find the boss standing at the stove as Parvati discussed the plot of the latest episode of Space Hospital with Ellie. 

The boss was cooking.

Thoughts of the alley came back to him, and he decided cereal would be enough.

“Hey, Felix!” Parvati chimed. “Did you see Space Hospital last night? One of Rizzo’s Rangers was a guest star!”

“No, I didn't!” Felix said, excited. “I don’t normally follow Space Hospital, but I’ll have to check it out. Do you have a recording?”

“You bet! I’ll go grab it,” Parvati replied, getting up and heading off to her room. 

“Have a nice nap, kid?” Ellie asked before taking a sip from a bottle of Spectrum Vodka. “You must have been tired since you went directly to your bunk when you got back.”

Felix frowned, not sure if this was genuine interest from Ellie- What was he thinking? Ellie never had a genuine interest in anyone but herself and the bits she brought in. 

“Didn’t want to miss the tossball game,” he replied with a shrug. “Wasn’t wanting Vic’s commentary to ruin it. So I closed the door.”

“You? Shutting yourself in for a team that isn’t the Rangers?” Ellie taunted. “You feeling alright? Do I need to do a physical?”

“Ellie,” the boss said quietly, stirring something in a pot while a pan sizzles. “Can we please have a quiet night?”

“No one is fun around here,” Ellie said as she rolled her eyes, picked up her bottle, got up and left. 

Felix watched as the boss took a deep breath and returned to cooking. 

“You hungry?” the boss asked a moment later. “I’m making Tarmac and Cheese with chopped up cystypig.”

“Smells great, boss, but I was just going to have some purpleberry crunch and call it a night,” Felix responded, heading to the fridge to search for a drink to go with dinner. 

He saw in his periphery that the boss looked over at him for a moment. The food did smell really good, but he could fend for himself. 

“Alright,” the boss replied quietly. “There should be leftovers if you want some later.”

“Do all captains make food for their crew?” Felix asked, popping the top off of a purpleberry fizzy tea. Food was a safe topic.

“No, the Captain is just weird!” Ellie called from her room.

“Says the woman who wanted some when no one else was in the room!” the boss called back, dumping the chopped up cystypig into the Tarmac and cheese. 

“Never thought to mix the two before,” Felix mused. Not that he really had a place to cook on the back bays, so he never ate much Tarmac and cheese. “Where’d you learn to cook, boss?”

“I would hardly count this as cooking,” the boss said with a chuckle as he grabbed a few bowls. “My dad taught me a bit. It was usually just mixing things and hoping they tasted good, though.”

“Here it is Felix,” Parvati said as she came back from her room, setting the data cartridge on the table before taking her seat. “What was your family like, Felix? Did you ever know ‘em?”

“Nah, I was a stowaway,” Felix replied before taking another drink of his tea. “That’s what they call orphans who grow up in the Back Bays.”

“Oh gosh! I’m sorry,” Parvati replied leaning back in her chair. “That must have been lonesome.”

“Come on, Parvati. Who are you talking to?” Felix said with a laugh. “Imagine me, pining after my family.”

He didn’t know who his parents were, there wasn't anyone to miss. He relied on himself and he made it this far.

“It’s alright to miss something you should have had, Felix,” the boss said, placing a bowl in front of Parvati and serving out three more. 

“Yeah, I suppose I was a touch lonesome,” Felix admitted. “But hey- look at me now! I made it. I got a ship and everything.”

“You do,” the boss said, plopping a bowl of Tarmac and cheese in his free hand.

“I-” Felix started, giving the boss a confused look.

“Should have gotten your cereal instead of yapping then,” Boss interrupted with a small smirk as he looked at Felix over his glasses. Felix couldn’t help but notice the uncomfortable fluttering in his gut that definitely wasn’t his hunger.

The boss didn’t let the moment linger, though. He was off down the hall with the other two bowls as Felix took the seat next to Parvati. He quickly took his first bite, which led him to start shoveling the meal into his mouth as fast as he could. He hadn’t had anything so good since the one birthday he had saved up enough bits to grab a nice dinner at the Lost Hope. 

His bowl was practically empty when the boss got back to the mess.

“Well, it’s good to know that someone enjoys my cooking,” the boss said with a laugh before serving himself a helping. “There’s a bit more in the pot if you’re still hungry.”

Felix froze, spork still halfway in his mouth, when he realized Parvati was eating at a much slower pace. Everyone in the back bays ate what they could get as quickly as possible, otherwise it could get stolen. Felix swallowed. 

“Thanks, Boss,” he said with an embarrassed laugh.

“Don’t worry about it,” the boss said with a shake of his head as he moved to one of the couches and wrapped himself up in a blanket. 

The boss seemed like he had really cooled down from before, but there was still some tension there. But he said he wanted a quiet night. They could talk about it later. No need to overthink it when it was a nice evening.

“You really that cold, Sy?” Parvati asked over her shoulder. “It was already warm today and you look all bundled up for a winter night.”

“I grew up in a place warmer than this,” the boss said with a shrug. “Plus I’ve just been getting cold easy lately.”

“What place is hotter than Monarch?” Felix asked. He hadn’t heard of anything besides Hephaestus that was hotter than Monarch in Halcyon, but people didn’t grow up there. 

“There are a lot of places,” the boss said with a shrug, but didn’t elaborate. Parvati shifted in her seat, but didn’t say anything further. 

Something was up. The boss didn’t say where he was from, but it seems Parvati knew and if she was uncomfortable, it was probably less than nice. It was up to the boss to share his thoughts and Felix wasn’t up to pressing him. 

If he got cold, he got cold. Simple as that. 

Or so he would tell himself when the doubt seeped in. 

  
  


Sleep decided it wouldn’t come to Sylas that night. Felix didn’t seem mad at him for losing his temper and he patched things up with Parvati, but he still felt bad. Who was he to say who Felix could and couldn’t talk to, even if the possibility of Felix going and having his best life with a girl like Nell made him want to punch a wall. 

After four hours of fruitless attempts as falling asleep, he got up and pulled on his clothes. 

“Captain, it is currently 2:30 in the morning,” ADA chimed. “Where are you planning on going?”

“I have to set things straight between Felix and Nell or the guilt will eat me alive.”

“I will take note for future reference.”

Had it not been 2:30 on a sleepless night, Sylas may have sassed back at her. But not now. He grabbed his pistol and telescoping staff before heading out into the town. 

Stellar Bay was much quieter in the middle of the night. The wind still blew through like during the day, carrying the smell of fish and sulfur through the alleys. But the sound of chatter was near nonexistent as he made his way towards the sports bar. Looking up showed a clear sky full of constellations he didn’t recognize. 

“Watch where you’re going,” grumbled a drunk man as they ran into each other. 

“Sorry,” Sylas mumbled, returning his eyes to the streets rather than the stars. 

It didn’t take long to get to Left Field, which was still open at this time of night. Sylas took a step in to find no Nell and some dock worker asleep at the bar. The screens were off and the bar was cleaned for the night. 

“Hello?” Sylas called out, hoping Nell was in the back. 

“We’re closed for the night!” Nell’s voice called back from further in. 

“Only need a moment of your time. Was here earlier and wanted to apologize,” Sylas called back, ignoring the urge to let his throat close up in anxiety. Talking to people was one thing. Apologizing for scaring them out of info was another ordeal. 

Nell peaked through the door and froze. 

“Oh, it’s you,” Nell said, her customer service smile trying to hide her fear. “Look, you don’t need to apologize. I wouldn’t have made a move had I known he was taken.”

Sylas shook his head.

“He’s not taken,” he clarified. “I shouldn’t have treated you like I did earlier and I don’t want you to judge Felix because I was being an ass.”

Nell looked at him for a long moment before smiling.

“Alright, I won’t,” Nell said, crossing her arms. “Seems like a real odd thing for a guy to do when it seems he has eyes for a friend.”

Sylas rubbed his face, not ready to have a conversation like this on no sleep. 

“Look, it doesn’t matter how I feel about the situation if the feelings aren't reciprocated. What matters is that he’s happy,” Sylas admitted. “Could I get your info so he can message you and organize whatever you two were talking about?”

Nell laughed and pulled out a pen and wrote her info on a napkin. 

“You’re a weird one, stranger,” She said, handing it over. “Felix is lucky to have you as a boss.”

Sylas tucked the note in his jacket pocket.

“We’ll see how he feels in a few weeks. Thanks again.”

“See you around.”

And like that, Sylas was back out on the street, heading back to the landing platform. His heart was in his stomach while the napkin seemed to want to burn a hole through his pocket, but he knew it was the right thing to do. Sylas had got attached too quickly and he would pay the emotional price. No one's fault but his own. 

ADA quietly welcomed him back to the Unreliable and informed him that everyone was still asleep. 

“Could you open Felix’s room a couple inches or so?” Sylas asked, dropping his weapons and shoes off in his room.

“You can't steal anything with that narrow of a gap, Captain.”

“I’m not stealing from him, ADA,” Sylas said with a roll of his eyes. “I just need to slip something in and there aren’t gaps under the doors on this ship.”

“It is open, Captain.”

With a quick thank you, Sylas quietly ascended the stairs and moved to Felix’s doorway. From what he could see, Felix was sound asleep in his bunk. He quickly wrote a “Sorry for being an ass -Sy” below Nell’s information and stuck it to the inside of Felix’s door before shutting it again. 

He slowly headed back downstairs and finished disrobing, knowing that he did as much as he could to make things right again. 

Maybe he could sleep now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading! As a note, this fic isn't betaed but I do try to review it for things that don't make sense. 
> 
> I also made a quick illustration of Sylas because I needed a little bit of a break from writing.  
> https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/466064723205685249/759630235351646209/Sylas_WIP.jpg


	4. Chapter 4

Max woke up and stretched slowly, the stiffness in his back waning. He was getting too old to be sleeping in small bunks night after night. His knees were almost back to normal after a few days not hiking through Terra 2 wilderness, but he knew that soon enough they’d be groaning due to the rough Monarch landscape. 

Once he had dealt with Chaney, he’d find his way to somewhere he could finally enjoy his peace. Until then, quiet mornings would be a welcome escape from dealing with the other crew members. 

He quickly dressed and put on his vestments before heading to the kitchen with one of his books. It would be nice to sit somewhere to read besides his desk and not be disturbed. A pot of tea sat on the stove, still warm to the touch. Max looked around and found the captain sitting on one of the couches, mug in hand and wrapped up in a blanket. He was staring off into space, not seeming to have even noticed Max walk in. 

“Trouble sleeping?” Max asked as he poured himself a cup, but heard no response. 

Fine, he was still in his slump and didn’t want to talk. No water off Max’s back. 

He sat down at the table and began reading, taking a sip of his tea. In the silence, he heard quick breathing. He looked up and saw that Sylas was staring at him with wide eyes and blown pupils. Max had seen enough people nearly OD in prison that he knew something was wrong. 

“Captain, what’s happening?” Max asked, getting up. 

Sylas seemed to try to respond, but his speech slurred. His breaths were shallow and he was shivering. 

“Dr. Fenhill!” Max shouted, kneeling next to the Captain. The middle of the night seemed to be the worst time to experiment with stimulants, but he could discuss that with Sylas once he was not on the verge of passing out. The man felt cold under his touch and looked completely terrified. 

It was an odd sight to see when Sylas tried to hide his emotions whenever Max was around. 

“Law damn it,” Max swore under his breath, getting up and heading to Ellie’s room. “Ellie! The captain is in trouble!” he yelled, banging on the closed door.

The door opened soon after, Ellie came out with her med bag. Her hair was a mess and she had what looked to be bedclothes still on.

“What’s wrong,” she asked, following Max into the kitchen as Sylas tracked their movement in jerky motions. 

“Cold, pupils blown, unintelligible,” Max informed as Ellie knelt in front of the Captain and started taking his vitals. “No drugs that I can see, but I don’t know if they would be in his room.”

Ellie pulled out a small light to check for pupil responsiveness, grabbing him by the jaw to hold his head steady. As soon as the light was on his eyes, the captain’s pupils constricted quickly and he took a single, deep breath. 

“I’m fine,” he got out, moving to get out of Ellie’s grasp. 

“What happened?” she asked, eyes scanning him for any other irregularities. 

“Panic attack,” Sylas responded, taking deep breaths as he looked between Ellie and Max. “I get them every so often. Thanks for snapping me out of it, but I’ll be fine in a minute.”

“Any other preexisting conditions I should know about?” Ellie asked, packing up her bag. “Ones that could induce the Vicar to yell at my door at 4:30 in the morning, especially.”

“No,” Sylas responded with a shake of his head. “It came on without warning. I didn’t mean to worry you all. But thank you for the speedy response.”

“It’s my job, Cap,” Ellie replied. “I’m going back to bed.”

Max leaned against the table and waited for her to leave before looking back to Sylas. He sat on the edge of the couch, rubbing his arms as if he was trying to warm up. 

“I would recommend investing in some decaffeinated Trip-Teaz in the future,” Max said with a chuckle. The Captain continued to surprise him after having traveled together for a few weeks. He was reserved, so hopefully anxiety was the only odd thing that Max would have to deal with while a part of The Unreliable’s crew. 

“Heh,” Sylas laughed. “Yeah, I probably should.”

No argument or misdirection. He must have been actually spooked. Max could see the dark circles under his eyes. 

“Hard time sleeping?”

“Was a stressful day yesterday,” Sylas replied. “Too many thoughts means not enough sleep. Hopefully killing some Rapts will help with that.”

“If not yours, it will definitely ease the minds of those who live close to the walls.”

Sylas softly laughed as he stood up and folded his blanket. 

“You always look for the best in the situation, Vicar,” Sylas teased.

“Someone around here must,” Max joked back. It was nice to have a genuine conversation with the man. 

It would be better if Max could engage with him like this without the panic attack, but he would take the easy conversation.

“Why are you up so early?” Sylas asked, stretching out of his curled position.

“I’m always up at this time,” Max replied, returning to his seat. “I can sit in the common area without being confronted with Mr.Millstone’s rebellious notions of grandeur or Dr.Fenhill’s incessant teasing.”

Sylas chuckled. He had a nice laugh. Soft, but still present.

“You know, he might be more receptive to your Plan if you take the time to explain it to him.”

Max raised an eyebrow and took a sip of his drink. Without a quick response, Sylas looked over and gave a smile and a roll of his eyes.

“Don’t look at me like that, Vicar,” he continued. “I’ve dealt with difficult students before. Yeah, explanations may not get them in one session, but persistence is powerful.”

“I can’t imagine you being a teacher, Captain,” Max replied. 

“It was a lifetime ago.”

  
  


Felix woke up curled and the corner of his bunk. It was comfortable enough after years of tucking himself away when having to sleep in the back bays, but he always woke up stiff. 

“Remember, I need a living captain to run this ship,” ADA said over the intercom. The boss must have been heading out. 

He blinked his eyes awake and saw something had changed in the room. 

The little white square on his door that wasn’t there when he fell asleep. He slowly unfurled himself and stumbled to the door. It was a napkin with a datapad messenger number for Nell and an apology from the Boss. 

So he wasn’t trying to be an ass and made the steps to make it right. 

More than anyone else had done when they wronged him on Groundbreaker. 

But what did this mean? Did the boss want him to actually go talk to Nell? She seemed cool and all, but the boss was on another level. He’d rather be out adventuring than sitting in a bar watching tossball any day. 

Well, maybe not during the championships.

But maybe the boss would be at the bar as well?

It wouldn’t hurt to have someone to talk to about tossball that wasn’t Vic, though.

He placed the napkin next to his datapad and headed out. The ship was quiet without everyone in it. Heading to the mess, he found Max on one of the couches, reading one of his books of corporate lies. 

“Thought the boss was taking you out to go see this big game hunter?” Felix asked, pulling a box purpleberry crunch out of a cabinet and eating it by the handful. “Oh, and mornin’”

Max looked up from his book and stared at Felix for a moment with a mildly disgusted frown. 

“Have you considered that someone other than you may have wanted some cereal?” Max asked.

“No, but I’m going to eat the rest of this box anyway, so it doesn’t matter, Vic,” Felix replied with a full mouth. After swallowing, he continued, “You didn’t answer my question.”

Max rolled his eyes and closed the book in his hands.

“The captain took Ms.Holcomb and Dr.Fenhill out to finish up some jobs that weren’t finished yesterday.”

“Ellie went out on an actual mission with the boss? She must have been tired of lounging in here all day.”

“The captain had a pretty bad panic attack this morning. He thought it would be for the best to take her along in case something happened because of it.”

Felix frowned. The boss having a panic attack? On the ship?

“What'd he have to panic about? Did a rabid canid sneak onto the ship?” Felix asked. 

Max rolled his eyes and stood up, heading to the stove to pour himself some more tea.

“Panic attacks aren’t always triggered by danger, Mr.Millstone,” Max explained. “Though, I doubt you’ve ever had one with how willingly you trapse into danger without a second thought.”

Felix rolled his eyes as he continued to eat. Whatever spooked the boss must have been mighty scary, even if the Vicar didn’t think so. Was probably just a piece in his big, stupid plan anyway. 

The next few hours went off without too much fuss. Max went to his room and Felix listened to some serial reruns. Being on call for the boss was pretty boring, but there wasn’t much else he could do. Maybe go see if they needed any temp work done at the Saltuna factory, but he also wasn’t keen on going back to moving boxes so soon. 

The cargo bay was big enough for some wall tossball though...

  
  


“Are you going to leave any rapts for the rest of us, Captain?” Ellie asked as Sylas aimed for the next lizard’s head and shot. The pack looked confused through the scope, but they were far enough off that they didn’t know how their companion died. 

“You’re free to enter the splash zone whenever you like, Ellie,” Sylas replied, taking out another two. “Just don’t complain when you get acid vomited all over you.”

Sylas could feel the eye-roll as he scanned the area with his scope. 

“I think we have an extra plasma carbine back on the ship, Dr.Fenhill,” Parvati said. “I could fix it up so you have a longer range weapon to use and you keep with your theme.”

“Oh, that sounds fun,” Ellie replied. “And please, it’s just Ellie. I have to deal with being Dr.Fenhill enough with the Vicar.”

“Looks clear, ready to do some salvaging?” Sylas said, putting his dead eye rifle back on his back. 

“As long as we don’t have to deal with more cannibals,” Ellie said, moving on ahead to the northern ruins. 

Sylas shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was when dealing with the Mathers family. He should have suspected that someone out in this hostile environment would resort to hunting other people for food, but the parent’s apparent drugging of their kids rubbed him the wrong way. He didn’t feel bad that they weren’t willing to reform their ways. 

What Todd would think of him now?

Sylas shook his head. His brother wasn’t here to point out what Sylas could have done better. Todd was still frozen on the Hope and Sylas needed to make sure he got out. He needed to make sure everyone on the Hope got out if this Colony was to be his new home.

But Sylas could really use a dose of familiarity. 

The northern ruins looked the same as the southern ruins. The group searched each house, having to hack most of the sealed doors to get inside. Any valuables left behind would get sold to keep up maintenance of the Unreliable and they took any foodstuffs that were still good. 

“You provide the best for us, Captain,” Ellie deadpanned, placing some cans of boarstwurst into a satchel.

“Feel free to buy fresh Saltuna in the city if this isn’t high enough quality for your discerning palette,” Sylas replied. “You're a bit picky for a pirate.”

“Just because I don’t want to eat canned meat from an abandoned house doesn’t mean I’m picky,” Ellie replied, but didn’t confirm wanting to use her own money for food that would otherwise be provided. 

Continuing on, they came to the ARMS building where Sanjar said that the BOLT-52 was located. The building was already mostly looted, but the info on the only working terminal was a lot less surprising than Sanjar made it sound when he requested that Sylas wipe the terminal. Sanjar was very detail oriented and a leadership position didn't fit him. So what? Graham’s review was more interesting, but not as helpful at the moment. Maybe Graham survived?

Pulling out his personal data cartridge, Sylas downloaded the performance reviews before wiping the terminal.

“I don’t think Mr.Nandi wanted you to take the file before wiping it off the terminal,” Parvati said, looking over his shoulder.

“I don’t know Sanjar enough yet to trust him,” Sylas explained, pocketing the data cartridge. “I’ll keep it in case I need to use it.”

Parvati frowned, but she didn’t argue further. 

“Cap, we got a locked room up here with someone inside!” called Ellie from upstairs. 

Sylas nodded toward the stairs and the pair ascended, finding Ellie on a balcony looking at a locked door with an intercom. 

“Thank the Eternal,” came a voice from the intercom. “I’m Huxley. Hux, if you’re lazy. I’m stuck!”

Sylas pinched the bridge of his nose before looking at Ellie.

“She questioned if rapts could wear boots when she first called out,” Ellie replied with a shrug. 

“Alright Huxley, how’d you get in there?” Sylas asked into the intercom. He couldn’t just leave her in there. Who knows who the next person who happens upon her would be. 

“My friends and I were scavenging here and a mantiqueen showed up. Then the raptidons,” Huxley replied, obviously under duress. How long had she been trapped there? “It was a void-blasted mess. I ran in here and -um- now the door’s locked. Little help?”

Sylas took a deep breath, looking over the door. There weren't any hand holds and after a few knocks to find the mechanical portions he would need to use magpicks on, this would be a bigger job than he could handle. 

“My buddy had a key, but I ain’t heard him in a while. He locked me in here and took off,” Huxley added. “Probably got munched.”

So someone locked her in here. Even with how few fucks the Board seemed to give employee safety, this seemed too easy a failsafe to not put in. 

“I’m not going to go digging into rapt guts right now. Is there a handle on the inside? Anything?”

“Yeah, there’s a handle, but it won’t open. I press down and the door doesn’t open.”

Sylas looked over to Parvati, who was looking around. 

“Try turning the handle up and pushing,” Sylas suggested.

A moment later, the door opened and out tumbled a young woman in orange and tan armor. 

“Whew, thanks, mister,” Huxley said with a small laugh. “I was starting to get a mite light headed in there and I think maybe I was gonna die. But now I’m out here! And I’m headed back to Amber Heights.”

“Wait, who were you with?” Sylas asked, not recognizing the armor. 

“Oh, I’m a runner for the Iconoclasts. The Iconoclast Runner. Fastest we’ve got!” Huxley explained, putting her hands on her hips and puffing out her chest. “The Iconoclasts are my people. Graham and Zora and Milton, all of us out in Amber Heights. I really should get back to them.”

Ah, Graham. He would lead a group of philosophists into the Monarch wilderness.

“We don’t go freeing people for free,” Ellie said, loading a new magazine into her pistol. 

Huxley looked suddenly nervous and Sylas shook his head. 

“Don’t mind her,” Sylas assured. “Put in a good word to your friend and we’ll call it even. You alright to travel?”

“Can do! And, yeah, I’m fine. I’m a runner. I’m used to getting all dizzy while out,” Huxley replied. 

Sylas shook his head and pulled off his pack, fetching an old Rizzo’s bottle that he reused for water. 

“Here, drink this. You’re probably dehydrated from your time in there. The path through the ruins is cleared until the main road outside the south gate into Stellar Bay,” Sylas said before standing back up. “Stay safe out there, kid.”

Huxley took the bottle with a nod and a little jump. 

“Gee, thanks, Mister!” she said before heading down and out. 

“Parvati, can you keep an eye on her until she crosses the bridge,” Sylas asked. Parvati nodded and followed Huxley down. 

“Good going, Cap, we could have gotten something more out of her,” Ellie said in a disappointed tone before heading into the storage room. 

“She wouldn’t have had anything good,” Sylas replied. “We’ll probably have to stop in Amber Heights anyway, might as well make my life easier by helping the kid out. There’s something I wanted to tell you.”

“Oh, so sending Parvati away wasn’t you just being a kind hearted soul.”

“Actions can have dual purposes, Ellie,” Sylas said, picking up a data cartridge labeled BOLT-52. He thought it was going to be a gun magazine of some kind, but it was what Sanjar asked for. “This morning you asked if I had any other preexisting conditions besides getting panic attacks.”

“That I did,” Ellie replied, shutting the door to the storage room. 

At least she tried to have some kind of doctor patient confidentiality.

“In case something decides to try and rip out my guts and you have to patch me up, I have an hormone replacement implant in my lower abdomen,” Sylas explained, continuing to go through bins. “Just wanted you to know before you found it on its own.”

“That is important information Captain. I had suspected when I saw the scars on your chest, but I didn’t want to assume,” Ellie replied. “That’s an expensive piece of hardware, though. Makes me wonder what you had to do to get it.”

“It was a part of my contract to come to Halcyon,” Sylas responded, picking up the last of the ammo that was stashed in a bin. 

“Ah, so someone important really wanted you on their crew,” Ellie said, a smirk apparent in her tone. 

Sylas thought back to Todd, still frozen in the pod next to the one that used to be his. He was just a bargaining chip to get Todd to join, not someone suited to do any of the actual spectacular work the corps looked for when recruiting.

“Yeah, you could say that.”


	5. Chapter 5

Felix hurled the tossball at the cargo bay door, feeling the satisfaction of hearing the clang of metal on metal and the resistance in the stick on the ball’s rebound. It was a good way to keep himself sharp until he headed out with the boss again. He had to be in tip top shape to knockout the raptidons and mantisuars that scoured the wilds of Monarch.

By the way they looked on Terrors of Monarch, he would really need to put force behind the stick to be of any help. 

On the next sling, he tried to hurl the ball faster, but it hit a ridge in the bay door and bounced past him, off the workstation, and right into the tossball stick of the Vicar. 

How long had he been standing there?

How’d he catch that throw?

“You know,” Max started, admiring the tossball in his pouch from the entrance to the airlock, “you’ll generate more force with the proper grip. It’s more like this.” Max mimicked Felix’s current grip and moved both hands further down the stick.

Felix rolled his eyes.

“No offense, Vic, but I think I know my way around a tossball stick. I got my own set of highly specialized skull-cracking techniques,” Felix said, swinging the stick before motioning for Max to toss the ball over. 

“If you want to hit better, then why are you throwing a tossball at the wall?” Max said, quickly getting into position and launching the tossball at the bay door, twisting his whole torso in the throw. 

Felix had to jump to catch it, ending in a slide across the floor. Max had gotten it going with the same speed from the end of the room as Felix had from about halfway. Felix shook his head as he stood up.

“You got lucky with that one, Vic” Felix said, launching the ball at the door a few times and catching them. “But I’m just working on hand eye coordination right now. I get enough strength training helping haul in the cargo between trips.”

“How are you going to get better if you only practice against yourself?” Max asked with a scoff. 

“Muscle memory,” Felix said with a shrug between tosses. “Gotta be just as effective as rereading the same book you agree with a million times.”

At the growl that came from Max, Felix caught the ball and turned to find Max taking off his church robe thing. Felix watched as he took the long, blue, satin-y cloth and folded it before placing it safely on one of the bigger crates. Underneath, Max wore a plain white T-shirt that showed off his broad chest and well defined upper arms, and a pair of slacks. 

Felix had to look quickly away when Max caught him watching.

“We’ll see just how good your muscle memory is,” Max said, Felix knowing the prick was smirking just by his voice. “I played defensively in my penitentiary days, but I’m sure I could show you a thing or two.”

Oh, this asshole was going down.

“Workstation is the boundary, hitting any of the boss’s or Parvati’s equipment is an out. First to 3 outs loses,” Felix offered, tossing the tossball into the air a few times. 

“Prepare to have your ass handed to you, Mr.Millstone,” Max replied. 

Felix served first and the round was off. Despite having already warmed up, the Vicar kept pace, returning every throw with confidence. With one wrong step, Felix missed the ball and sprinted forward to the bay door, ignoring Max’s movement behind him. 

Just as he was to touch the door, Felix heard the clang of the ball hitting metal first. Shit.

“Looks like one out for you, Mr.Millstone,” Max said, spinning his tossball stick.”Let me know when you’re ready for me to serve.”

“Get spaced, Vic.”

“To be expected of a fan of Rizzo’s Rangers,” Max replied. “I’m sure the bartender at Left Field wouldn’t be too impressed by that round.”

Felix huffed, but didn’t reply as he scooped up his stick and returned to the boundary. He jerked his head towards the door so Max would just get on with the next round. 

Max served an easy catch, giving Felix enough time to move over and hit the back of Max’s closest knee after sending the ball off towards the bay door again. Max fell hard, grunting out a swear too quietly for Felix to hear over him catching the ball and the distinct sound of a ball outing his rival. 

“How’d ya like them mock apples,” Felix asked, leaning on his tossball stick. “Not too tough for you, right, old man? Or was that not in your _plan_?”

Max stood up and shook himself off, extending and flexing his knee.

“It’s good to know that I don’t have to go easy on you, son,” Max said, adjusting his grip on the tossball stick. “It wouldn’t have been as fulfilling when you lost.”

Felix eyed him before starting the next round. He would make Max eat his vestments for even trying to beat him.

  
  


Sylas appreciated having someone new to talk to about actual work related issues instead of constantly diffusing fights between the crewmates. 

“So, we make the trek to Fallbrook for this Vicar you have on a _freelance_ crew and then off to Devil’s peak to talk to Hiram?” the guide confirmed. “You can bring your ship to the landing pad in Fallbrook in case anything happens. You’ll want your sawbones nearby in case we run into a Mantisaur nest.”

Sylas wasn’t sure how Nyoka could talk about giant, plasma spitting bugs so calmly.

Actually, he was pretty sure the amount of alcohol she consumes was a good part of it. 

“I’ll make sure The Unreliable is ready to head over when you call, Sylas,” Parvati said with a grin. 

“I’ll make sure I don’t overdo it,” Ellie added in a much more disappointed tone.

“It’ll take about a day or so depending on what we get caught up in,” Nyoka said with a shrug. “Is your ship really named the Unreliable?”

“I didn’t name her,” Sylas replied as they passed by Grimm, the docking pad guard. Sylas gave him a casual salute as they boarded the elevator.

“A nice ship, considering the ones that have docked here before.”

“She’s been good to us so far,” Sylas said with a nod. “There’s only one crew room left, but it’s clean and has space for your stuff,” he continued, motioning to the crate she pulled behind her. 

“Better than sleeping on a barstool,” Nyoka said with a lopsided smile before looking around confused. “Is your ship making a knockin’ noise?”

Sylas took a moment, but he could hear it too. It sounded like something kept hitting the walls in the cargo bay. He took a deep breath before heading up the ramp and into the passenger door.

“Welcome back, Captain,” ADA chimed over the intercom. “Felix and the Vicar have not yet broken the cargo bay door with their games.”

Sylas looked over and watched as Felix and Max took turns hurling a metal ball at the bay door, having it bounce, and catching it with their tossball sticks. They were completely in their own world, breathing heavily and insulting each other as they passed the ball between them. 

Felix shot off a particularly intense shot and it ricocheted straight towards Sylas’ face. Both men turned and their faces went from focused determination to shock. 

Sylas took a sharp breath and focused, slowing time down around him. He felt the familiar chill down his back as he ducked below the ball as it sailed over his head. Soon enough, his focus waned and time returned to normal and the ball embedded itself into one of the storage lockers behind him. 

“That was so cool, boss!” Felix yelled, hopping up in excitement.

“Indeed, but I think nearly hitting the Captain counts as your last out, Mr.Millstone,” Max pointed out, straightening up.

“Get spaced, Max,” Felix replied, coming out to greet the party. “How were the ruins? You kill all those Raptidons we heard yesterday?”

“Them and a family of cannibals as a treat,” Ellie replied, taking her bag off her shoulder. 

“Aww damn, I wish I could have gone,” Felix whined. “Did you find the hunter your friend mentioned?”

“Yep, meet Nyoka Ramnarim-Wentworth III,” Sylas introduced, giving Nyoka enough room to bring in her cart. “She’ll be with us for the foreseeable future, so play nice. She has a very large plasma minigun if you don’t.”

Nyoka laughed as Felix and Max introduced themselves. Parvati and Ellie made their way up to their rooms to unpack. Slylas pulled off his breastplate and placed it in one of the bins near the door. 

“Captain, you have an incoming transmission,” ADA announced.

“Be right there,” Sylas said before looking over to the two men hovering in the cargo bay door. “You two help Nyoka get her belongings upstairs and then later we will talk about whoever dented the workstation.”

“Told you he’d notice,” Max goaded, earning a middle finger from Felix as he helped Nyoka carry the crate upstairs.

“Yet you continued encouraging him, Vicar,” Sylas pointed out, staring at the older man. “I worry for your flock if this is the kind of behavior you encourage.”

“Point taken, Captain,” Max replied in a much more respectful tone, but Sylas could hear annoyance simmering underneath. 

Sylas headed to the bridge and closed the door behind him. 

“Dr. Phineas Welles would like to speak with you,” ADA said, putting the scientist's face on the comm screen.

“Ah, Sylas!” Phineas said, squinting. “You look a lot rougher than the last time I saw you…”

“I have literally been killing Raptidon’s all day,” Sylas said with a shrug. “You should see my armor.”

“Well, please be careful. Raptidon acid is very efficient at breaking down muscle tissue,” the scientist warned, not keeping consistent eye contact with the screen. “How is the progress coming with the Information Broker?”

Of course he was checking in so soon.

“I hired Nyoka today and we will be heading that way tomorrow,” Sylas said. “Things have popped up since we landed.”

“We don’t have forever, Sylas,” Phineas warned.

“You don’t think I don’t know that!” Sylas barked back. He took a deep breath, reigning in his emotions. “I have to take care of my crew. I wouldn’t have gotten here without them.”

Phineas ran a hand through his already messy white hair and nodded. 

“I’m sorry. I wish I could give you more help, but-”

“You’re wanted by the Board, I know,” Sylas interrupted. “I’ve still been getting the involuntary initiations of time dilation.”

“Any hints of the trigger?” Phineas asked, latching onto the change of subject. 

“Getting cold,” Sylas deadpanned. “I’ve had to keep my sleeping quarters warmer that I would like in case I wake up mid dilation and can’t find someone to kick me out of it. The crew has started to notice.”

Phineas frowned and then disappeared off screen. 

“I’ll see if I can find anything on that!” he called from off screen. “It may be that your neural networks became so used to being in cryo stasis, it connected the temperature to entering a state of time dilation.”

“See if you can get into the medical files on Groundbreaker,” Sylas suggested. “I saw a chart in their medbay about a patient complaining about the days running longer after one too many colony jumps.”

“Oh, I knew you were a good choice to pick out of the Hope,” Phineas replied. "I will do my best. One can never be to careful when doing long distance hacking!"

Sylas took a deep breath, knowing that there were better people on that ship to get this together, but he was the one who got defrosted. 

“Anything else?”

“Oh that should be it,” Phineas replied, popping back on screen. “Stay warm out there!”

And like that the call ended. 

“Captain, was the panic attack you had this morning one of the incidents you mentioned?” ADA asked as Sylas flopped into the captains seat.

“Yeah, but it’s easier to explain to the crew that I get panic attacks and hope Ellie is not caught up on her mental health services than it is to explain that over a hundred years old and can essentially slow time.”

“They will find out eventually, Captain,” ADA warned. 

“I know, but I need to make sure I can trust them not to rat us out to the Board,” Sylas responded. 

“Alright, Captain.”

  
  


Max sat at the dining table, trying to focus on reading one of his reference manuals on different kinds of computer systems. Ellie and Parvati returned to their rooms after cleaning up while the hunter leaned against the counter chatting with Felix. 

“You know, Nyoka,” Felix started. “Between you and me, we know all there is to know about Monarch.”

Max laughed to himself, keeping his eyes on his book. Of course Felix would think so highly of himself.

“What makes you say that?” Nyoka asked. 

“Well, you got your life as a hunter,” Felix said, taking a sip of his drink. “And I’ve memorized every episode of Terror on Monarch.”

“Oh, Terror on Monarch is a riot!” Nyoka said with a booming laugh. “It’s all made up, though. You know that, right?”

“Yeah right,” Felix replied, putting his feet up on the table. “Next you’re gonna tell me Halcyon Helen weren’t based on a real person.”

Max rolled his eyes as he heard the door to the bathroom open. He looked over to see the Captain walk out in only pajama pants as he toweled his hair. 

“Feet off the table, people eat there,” Sylas said as he draped the towel over his shoulders and fetched a drink out for himself. “And it’s just a show Felix. They exaggerate everything.”

“Aw, Cap. He seemed happier in his ignorance,” Nyoka said as Felix stood up, grumbling about how they couldn’t be all lies. 

Max looked up and watched as Sylas discussed the next day’s plans with their newest crewmember. Nyoka seemed to be a steady hand that this group needed to balance out Ellie and Felix. He could see her evaluating the captain from over her bottle, and if the Captain noticed, he didn’t react. Max would know if she was actually worth her bits when they headed out into the wilds tomorrow. 

He only noticed until it was too late that his gaze moved to the Captain’s neck, down to over his chest and forearms to the happy trail-

He shook the images from his head. Ogling the captain the night before he was, unknowingly, going to take Max to go kill Chaney was _definitely not_ a part of the Plan. 

“Well, Max, sounds like you only have a day or so hike and you’re free to figure out your equation,” Sylas said with a smirk. “You excited?”

Max thought for a moment. This man didn’t suspect that Max was misleading him in any way. 

“It is the culmination of a lifetime’s worth of work, so I suppose I am excited,” Max replied, keeping his true emotions close to the chest. He was excited to deal with Chaney, but he was unsure of what he would do after. 

“What kind of scholar lives in Fallbrook?” Nyoka asked. 

“I do not pretend to know why he is there,” Max explained. “That is where he went, so that is where we will follow.”

He truly did not know why Chaney decided to travel to Fallbrook, but it was a town outside the Board on a condemned moon. It was as out of the way as you could get without isolating on an asteroid or leaving the system altogether. 

Nyoka shrugged. Max appreciated that she didn’t push further. That would have been harder to explain with the Captain around. 

“Well, we will see if the Iconoclasts will let us bunk in Amber Heights tomorrow night and then get to Fallbrook the next afternoon,” Nyoka confirmed. 

“The Iconoclasts are Philosophists, right?” Sylas asked. “Try to behave yourself, Vicar.”

“Just because I think that Philosophists are deluded does not mean I will do anything to endanger our chances of a safe place to rest,” Max replied with a roll of his eyes. “I will not hesitate to engage in debate if it comes up, however.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Sylas said with a chuckle. “I will miss our discussions.”

Max blinked. With how much Sylas always diverted their conversations away from himself and to questioning the Law, it never seemed to mean anything beyond an intellectual exercise. But here he sounded sincere.

Nyoka raised an eyebrow, but didn’t comment. 

“We will have to see what Chaney has to say about the book,” Max replied with a nod. 

He was only supposed to do this job until Chaney was dealt with, act as friendly as he could with the crew members and move on. 

But this man, whom Max has only known for a few weeks now, became someone of intrigue. 

And now the interest was reciprocated and guilt for leading him on bubbled from the pit of Max’s stomach. The captain wasn’t supposed to get attached. 

He wasn’t supposed to get attached, for that matter. A problem for his future self. 

“I suppose,” Sylas said with a nod. “Well, we have a long day tomorrow. I’m going to bed.”

With that, Sylas walked down the hall and disappeared down the stairs. 

“Discussions?” Nyoka asked with a small smirk. “With a Vicar? The captain is getting more and more interesting.”

“There was no innuendo in that statement, Ms.Ramnarim-Wentworth,” Max corrected with a frown. “The Captain enjoys discussing the specificities of the Plan with me and that is all. While he seems to lean more towards the Philosophist school of thought, he values engaging discussion, which I am happy to provide.”

“Ah, that explains it,” Nyoka replied in a skeptical tone, half-lidded eyes studying him. “Well, you two can figure that out between yourselves. How is he as a boss?”

“He hasn’t been a captain of a ship for very long,” Max replied, glowering at the hunter. “He is very generous, offering help to every person who expresses need, even without proof of compensation for the work he would be doing. From what I’ve seen, he can get caught up trying to do the right thing and overlook the practical option.”

“Weird to see in a ship captain.”

“Agreed.”


	6. Chapter 6

Pop. Pop. Pop.

The familiar shiver ran down Sylas’ spine as time rushed back to it’s normal speed around him. Nyoka rushed forward, screaming as she mowed down marauder after marauder in a spray of molten metal. Max followed after her, finishing off any stragglers in her wake. 

Sylas kept an eye through his scope, checking ahead of his teammates for any sneaky ones trying to hide long enough to catch the two by surprise.

Pop. Pop.

And the road was clear once again. Sylas quickly reloaded before coming down off the hill to join his teammates in picking anything worth taking off the still warm bodies. 

Whatever caused these people to go mad with bloodlust, Sylas had to think he was doing them a service. Life as a marauder couldn’t have been a happy one, so a short one would be a mercy. It also kept the peaceful travellers of these roads further out of harm's way. 

Before long, the marauders were a burning pile and Sylas had found some replacement ammo and a couple of weapons in good enough condition to pawn off on a vending machine. 

“Man, Cap’n,” Nyoka said, readjusting her grip on her mini gun. “How do you get so many head shots off at the beginning of the attack?”

If she would only believe the truth…

“I dunno,” Sylas replied with a shrug. He had learned in Edgewater to not tell his truth to regular people. They got scared. “I’ve been getting a lot of practice, I guess.”

“Or you found a good mod for that rifle of yours,” Nyoka retorted with a shrug. 

"The Captain does like to tinker with weapons in his free time,” Max added, wiping some blood off his armor.

“Well, it doesn’t really matter to me as long as you keep it up,” Nyoka said with a shrug. “It will make heading to Devil’s peak a lot smoother.”

The road wound through rock formations and sulfur pools. Nyoka explained certain flora as they passed, but Sylas wasn’t really paying attention to her stories of falling into large patches of the mushroom orbs or having to squeeze herself into a cave to get away from raptidons. 

Sylas wondered just how much the environment of Monarch had been studied. This area alone would have been an interesting fusion of the Grand Canyon and desert Australia. How much had changed since the terraforming began? Were Canids already here, or were they brought from Terra 2? How did that affect the hunting patterns of raptidons and Mantisaurs? Where were all the herbivores? Or were all the large fauna opportunistic omnivores and generally subsited on the fungal growth that covered this area?

It was a land of plentiful discovery, had any scientist worth their salt actually made their way out here without corporate bias. 

Maybe he could come out here again, once the Hope was saved and Halcyon was on its way to recovery, and dust off his ecology degree. It would be nice, doing research instead of having to save a whole goddamn solar system.

“Captain!”

“Sylas!”

Sylas jerked his head up at Nyoka and Max’s shouts. Did Max use his real name?

He didn’t have enough time to think any further on that due to the fact he was nearly face to face with a Mantisuar soldier. It opened it’s mandibles with a hiss, ooze stringing along the jaws as all of its eyes focused on Sylas. 

Sylas took a sharp breath, feeling his skin grow colder as time slowed around him. He hopped back, pulling out his pistol and placing shots in both of its front legs and it’s face before time sped up back to normal. It was staggered, but still pulled off a swipe that sent Sylas flying off his feet. 

Sylas hit the ground with a hard thud, forcing all the air out of his lungs. He watched as a spray of plasma shot over him, Nyoka yelling near him. 

“Inbound Mantiqueen!” yelled Max off to the side. 

Sylas scrambled to his feet when it was safe to stand and slowed time again before surveying the area. There was, in fact, a large mantiqueen coming towards them, along with a few mantisaur drones, a mantipillar, and several mantiswarms. Max had been shooting at the Mantiqueen, but she was charging up a plasma blast to retaliate. 

Right as Max was reloading. 

Well, shit. 

Sylas dashed to Max, but he knew he wouldn’t make it in time to keep them both from being hit, even with time dilation. 

It was his fault that they were being attacked, he would need to take the fall. 

Time sped up right as Sylas tackled Max and turned, the blast of super charged spittle crashing into his armor and heating it. Sylas could already feel the searing pain digging into his skin where the armor made contact, causing him to curl in on himself for a moment. Max lay next to him shocked, temporarily stunned by being tackled to the ground. 

Sylas gathered himself and engaged time dilation once again. He had yet to use it so often in such a short amount of time and the throbbing in his head told him that it was probably for a good reason he didn’t. 

He jumped up and used his pistol to take down the mantipillar and the drone before time returned once again, this time with a sharp pain behind his eyes. 

From behind him, he heard a low growl and the cocking of a shotgun. 

“I’ve had enough of you!” yelled Max as he stepped forward, shooting at the mantiqueen from the hip. 

Sylas blinked, missing the Mantiqueen fall and Nyoka take care of the mantiswarms, as he stood in awe of Max.

Max' eyes were full of determination to kill the creatures before him. His stance was solid, and only added to the self-assurance that he showed by keeping his shotgun close to his hip. 

The sight took Sylas's breath away.

“We’re clear!” called Nyoka. “What the hell was that, Cap?”

And like that, the adrenalin that fueled the fight dissipated, leaving behind a pounding behind the eyes, hot metal clawing into his back, and weak knees. 

His vision tunneled as Max rushed toward him before everything went black. 

  
  


“Reminder: Unit Modifications by unauthorized technicians are NOT AUTHORIZED by the parent company,” SAM warned as Parvati tried to fish out something from one of its legs.

Felix laid on the cot that the boss brought into the engine room, tossing a ball up and down. Listening to serials only lasted so long when you were bored on a ship. 

“Oh, don’t be a stick in the mud,” Parvati said with a huff. “Doesn’t it feel better to locomote without grit in your gears?”

“To gain AUTHORIZATION credentials, an engineer must be registered as the unit’s DESIGNATED CARETAKER,” SAM replied in its prerecorded voice that always put Felix slightly on edge. It didn’t help that with one switch, the automechanical could switch from spraying water to spraying acid. “Do you wish to assign yourself this designation, engineer?”

“You askin’ me to be your minder? I ‘spose you can’t be any more complicated than an autoloader. All right, I’ll do it!” Parvati said excitedly.

“What’s Junlei gonna think?” Felix joked, earning a glare from the engineer. “I’m teasing.”

“I know,” Parvati said with a sigh. “Ellie does it all the time.”

Felix frowned, not having been around when it happened, but Ellie was the sort to push too far with the jokes. 

“Ding,” SAM said. “Holcomb, Parvati is now responsible for this SAM unit’s maintenance. DESIGNATED CARETAKER, there is a rock in this unit’s tread. Removal of foreign debris requested.” 

“I'll stop teasin' you on it,” Felix said, sitting up and watching as Parvati dug into SAM’s leg. There was a difference in harassing Vic since he was a corporate asshole, but Parvati was actually nice and helped the crew.

“I appreciate it. With Sylas being gone all the time, it’s nice having someone to talk to and not have to worry about the Vicar preaching or Ellie being mean.”

“What do you think the boss is doing right now?” Felix asked, flopping back down. He was probably doing something super cool. 

“Felix, that’s the third time you’ve asked me that since you came up here.”

“I just wish I was out there! I don’t like being put on the sidelines just because big groups attract monsters and Vic has someone he wants to see in Fallbrook,” Felix replied with a huff. 

“Well, I need to head into town to grab something for my date with Junlei and I want to get Sam out of the ship. You're free to tag along,” Parvati offered.

“Yes!”

And like that, Felix was out of the ship and stretching his legs. Despite being under a corporation’s guidance, Stellar Bay was the nicest town he had been to since leaving Groundbreaker. 

It didn’t matter that he had only been to two and the other one was overrun by raptidons brought to Terra 2 by the Board.

It was great to get out and just walk around, not really having to do anything more than stick by Parvati as she ran her errands. The casserole she got from the diner was way overpriced, but it wasn’t his date and it actually smelled really good once it was finished. They then headed over to the general store to pick up some supplies for Nyoka. 

“This is really nice of you to do,” Felix said as Parvati packed up the cleaning goods and food into her pack. 

“Well, I would find it real welcoming if someone did this for me when coming on a new ship,” Parvati said with a shrug. “I want her to feel like she’s a part of the family.”

Felix tilted his head in confusion. Yeah, they spent a lot of time together, but crews just did that. They worked together on a ship. 

“Look, I know ‘family’ is a strong word,” Parvati continued after looking at him. “But I think that's what Sylas is trying to make here and I’d like that too. He’s been more of a family to me in the last month than I ever had in Edgewater since my dad passed.”

“The boss gotta have a family of his own, though, right?” Felix asked. “Why would he need one made out of people who he hired for his ship?”

“I don’t think his family’s around no more,” Parvati said as they approached the elevator to the ship. “But, you’re right. Maybe making a family out of coworkers is a little weird… I’m glad he cares so much though.”

“SAM units are great at cleaning up after the WHOLE FAMILY!” SAM added as it moved onto the elevator. 

“And it looks like SAM feels the same way,” Parvati said with a giggle. 

“I think I’m gonna wander for a while longer,” Felix said with a smile. “Don’t wait up, I’ll make sure I’m back before the boss calls the ship.”

Parvati raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t say anything. 

“Alright, have fun and stay safe. You know where I’ll be,” she replied with a smile before taking the elevator up. 

Felix walked back up the main street, now alone with his thoughts and all of Stellar Bay to explore. 

He found himself in front of Left Field Betting before he realized that was where his feet took him. He hadn’t planned on coming here. He hadn’t planned on walking anywhere in particular. 

Thinking back to a few days prior, he wasn’t sure if he was welcome. But then the boss went and got Nell’s info, so it should be fine. And the boss wouldn’t have done that if he didn’t want Felix to spend time here. 

He had money to burn and nothing else to do. Might as well enjoy it while he could. 

  
  


“Fucking Philosophists,” Max murmured under his breath, setting his bag next to the free cot of the two in the room. Sylas’s sleeping form laid in the other one, breathing quietly amidst the bandages and the rag under his nose to catch the blood that once flowed freely from there. 

Max and Nyoka had hauled Sylas to Amber Heights without encountering any other adversaries. The Iconoclast general and sawbones, Zora, patched him up as she spoke with Nyoka about the job they were on. The healthcare and nights stay wouldn’t come free, but he doubted Sylas would have come through here and not helped the starving community. Nyoka went out to grab a delivery for the leader, Graham Bryant, while Max stayed and kept an eye on Sylas. 

The idiot, getting too caught up in looking at mushrooms to notice a giant mantisaur approaching. 

At least he picked up his pace once his attention was caught. 

How had he moved so fast? Max had been loading his shotgun with Sylas twenty feet from him and then they were both on the ground a second later. 

No amount of “practice” could make that work within the laws of physics. 

Sylas slept peacefully and Max had half a mind to leave him be. But he was in the middle of a camp of idiots without their guide and the captain was injured. Sylas would wake up in an unfamiliar room amongst people he didn’t know. 

Max couldn’t bring himself to subject him to that. 

It didn’t make sense. He didn’t feel like he was following The Plan. Why would it lead him to a forsaken world with someone he barely knew. Someone who didn’t want to be known.

That wasn’t right. 

Sylas appeared more open when Max saw him talk to Parvati in the engine room. They got along well together. 

So Sylas didn’t want _Max_ to know him. Max scowled.

Fine, he could be a self-endangering imbecile that Max only needed to deal with until tomorrow and then be on his way.

Max took a deep breath, the anger leaving just as quickly as it came about. One image he couldn’t get out of his mind.

When they were laying next to each other after Sylas had knocked him out of the way, he saw Sylas’s pupils grow quickly and he suddenly got cold. Just like his panic attack, but under control. Then, once the battle was over, he bled from his nose and fainted. 

Max only realized he had zoned out, staring at his own bag when he heard Sylas cough. 

“Shit,” Sylas groaned, blinking and looking around. 

“Welcome back to the world of the living.”

“The world of the living sucks,” Sylas said, covering his eyes. 

“You could be alive and in the center of a Mantiqueen den,” Max pointed out. “But being in the den of Philosophists is only marginally better.”

Sylas tried to laugh, but stopped and winced. 

“You two drug me all the way to Amber Heights?”

“No, we rode raptidons here.”

“Ah, of course. My apologies.”

Sylas couldn’t have been too badly wounded if he had enough energy and wherewithal to respond to sarcasm with a smirk. 

“How are you feeling?”

“I’ve got a bitch of a migrane and my ribs and back hurt,” Sylas listed. “Could be worse. You?”

“Just a few scrapes. You should consider becoming a Tossball 6th back with how well you tackle.”

“I think I have enough excitement waltzing up to Mantisuars, but I’ll consider it if this Captain gig falls through.”

“Nyoka is doing some work for Graham and Zora,” Max informed as Sylas tried sitting up. “You may want to lay low for a while longer, yet. Zora said you should get at least a night’s rest.”

“A full night’s rest?” Sylas said in a disbelieving tone. “That would be the life.”

Not a question on who Zora or Graham were or what kind of work Nyoka was doing specifically. 

“Do you often have trouble sleeping, Captain?” 

Sylas was quiet as he moved to sit on the edge of the bed with a wince. After steadying himself for a moment, he rifled through his bag.

Max waited patiently, giving him time to gather his words. If the Captain was not sleeping well enough to perform, it was a danger to anyone who traveled out with him. 

“It’s hard to sleep when we are either moving and the engine is roaring or it’s completely silent,” Sylas admitted, filling his medicinal inhaler with adreno before taking a hit. “I’m not used to sleeping on a ship yet, I guess.”

Max nodded, knowing the feeling. He had been on his fair share of ships and always slept his best the night they touched down planet side.

“You could ask ADA for white noise in your room,” Max suggested. “She has control of just about everything on the ship.”

“She has enough to do,” Sylas said, slowly stretching each shoulder. 

“You really should take this opportunity to rest then,” Max pointed out. “It makes sense that you’re not used to sleeping on a ship if you came from outside the system. You would have been put in cryostasis.”

“I thought you didn’t believe I was from Earth?” Sylas asked, looking up at Max. Now that his glasses weren’t on, Max could see the bags under the man’s eyes. 

“There hasn’t been a ship from Earth to Halcyon with settlers for seventy years and other systems wouldn’t give up a person from earth so easily,” Max replied. “So, no, I don’t believe you unless you can give me a good reason to.”

Sylas gave a little laugh, leaning back onto the bed. 

“You want to know my story so bad, but you don’t believe it when I tell you the truth. What happened to accepting the truth, no matter where it comes from?

Max frowned at Sylas using his reasoning for finding Bakonu’s book against him. 

“Fine, let’s say you came directly from Earth? How do you account for the fact that you are obviously not in your seventies,” Max questioned.

“I came over on the Hope-”

This was ridiculous.

“The Hope is just legend! The lost ship that never reached Halcyon,” Max said, exasperated. This story was insane.

“Are you going to let me finish?”

Max took a deep breath and motioned for him to continue.

“My hibernation pod was grabbed by a mad scientist named Phineas Welles and he thawed me out, even though that shouldn’t be possible with how long I was in stasis,” Sylas continued. “He then shot me out in an escape pod to the Emerald Vale, where I was supposed to meet the original Captain of the Unreliable, Alex Hawthorne, but my escape pod crushed him upon landing. Soooo, I took his ship.”

Max just stared at him. This story was right out of the plot of one of the serials Felix coveted. If this was true, Sylas was over a hundred years old and working with a scientist who was number one on The Board’s hit list. He had to be lying.

But it would make some of his other quirks make sense. It would explain why he knew so little about the political atmosphere of Halcyon and got lost in looking around in new places. 

“The rumors in Edgewater about a mad person saying they were from the Hope,” Max started, leaning back in his chair.

“A mistake on my part,” Sylas said with an embarrassed half smile. “I should have known after hearing the gravedigger talk about grave fees like they were rented. Which, they were, but I thought it was some kind of sick joke at the time.”

“And you’re helping a wanted criminal why?”

“He got me out of stasis,” Sylas said, looking down at the floor. 

“And then sent you on a wild sprat chase that resulted in you condemning a whole settlement to starvation or death by bullet!” Max retorted. He watched Sylas tense as he brought up the fate of Edgewater. Max felt no nostalgia for the plague ridden shit hole, but innocent people died as the result of Sylas’s decisions. 

“Phineas only had enough of the chemicals he needed to unthaw me,” Sylas explained slowly. “He wants to bring back more settlers to help save Halcyon from the rule of the Board. From what I’ve seen, it seems like the right thing to do.”

“So you’re the hands and feet of a wanted man who can’t go out and do the things he wants himself just because it's the _right_ thing to do?”

Sylas’s drive to help anyone was annoying, but this was a suicide mission.

“My brother is still on that ship!” Sylas snarled, green eyes boring into Max’s. “He’s the only goddamned family I’ve got left and I’m gonna do what I need to to bring him back! You happy now? You have my story.”

Max pulled back at the sudden outburst, watching as Sylas took a deep breath before lying down on his side, back facing Max. 

A tinge of guilt formed in Max’s chest. Sylas’ story was preposterous when told, but within the context of everything that he had seen him do, it made sense. 

What in the world did The Plan bring him into? Was this a correction for wasting so much of his life looking for Bakonu’s journal? Now he needed to aid someone that claimed to have woken up from a seventy year slumber take down the very order he vowed to serve?

Amongst the lies he had a feeling the Board told to placate the masses, there was one thing now he knew for certain. 

“I believe you.”


	7. Chapter 7

It was quiet when Sylas woke up in the darkness of the room, nothing making a sound except for the quiet breathing of a sleeping Max in the cot next to him. He missed having a real window to check the time without having to look at his watch. 

He had gone back to bed pretty soon after his discussion with Max the evening before. Max had believed him, despite having been extremely skeptical at first. 

It was nice. 

Sylas let off the biggest baggage he had been dealing with almost alone and felt a little better for it. He had slept well for the first time since being unfrozen, but that may have been his body literally needing to heal after the fight the day before. 

Sylas tried to get up as quietly as possible, which was not as successful as he hoped when his back protested. It wasn’t as bad as yesterday with the adreno helping speed up the healing process. He quickly fumbled for his bag and headed outside. Hopefully he didn’t wake up Max. 

It was cool outside, the only illumination coming from the flood lights on the main pathways. Their room was on the second floor of what seemed to be an apartment-like building. The community was set into a canyon, some of the buildings embedded directly into the rock. It was mostly quiet, a few people mulling by the gate and some guards doing patrols outside the wall. 

Sylas sat on the edge of the walkway, letting his feet dangle over the edge between the bars of the railing. 

Why the fuck did he tell Max about Phineas? He was going to be gone and his church worked with the Board. If he told them, they would be at Sylas’ door in no time and Max would probably get back into OSI’s good graces. 

Max was his friend. He saved Max from getting blasted by a Mantiqueen. 

He trusted Max.

And that meant that Max could throw it back in his face. 

Sylas rested his forehead on the cool metal of the railing. His time in Halcyon seemed to just be one bad decision after another. 

He thought he made a connection with Max. But he said himself that he talked his way out of most of his tough binds. Did that mean Max was just using him to get his book translated?

“It’s good to see you’re awake, Captain.”

Sylas jumped, having gotten so lost in thought that he didn’t hear the sound of boots come up the stairs. Standing a few feet away was a woman in yellow and tan armor, with short brown hair and several healed scars latticing across her face. 

“Glad to be awake,” Sylas replied. “Do I have you to thank for that?”

“I treated your burns and checked out your vitals, you woke up all on your own,” the woman with a small shrug. “The name’s Zora Blackwood, General and sawbones for the Iconoclasts.”

“Captain Sylas Holzer of the Unreliable, pleasure to meet you,” Sylas replied, clearing the spot next to him for her to sit down. “Not sure why I passed out. We had killed other mantisaurs yesterday…”

“You not waking up after being brought here was more worrisome,” Zora replied, taking the seat next to him. “The Vicar said that you woke up for a little and then went back to sleep, so hopefully you just got the shit scared out of you and your brain needed some time to recalibrate.”

“Yeah, I’d rather not have that happen again,” Sylas agreed, knowing that overuse of his time dilation was the root of the cause. But Zora didn’t need to know about the side effects of coming out of a 70 year cryosleep. “Max said that Nyoka did some work for you and someone named Graham?”

“Yeah,” Zora replied with a nod. “She went and met with our supplier since our normal runner is off duty until her ankle heals.”

“Huxley?” Sylas asked. “Me and some of my crew helped her get out of a storage room in the Northern Ruins.”

“So that was you. She’s been singing your graces since she got back. Between helping Hux and Nyoka buying food and medicine instead of the high capacity data carts Graham asked for, you and your crew have made my life a lot easier.”

“Happy to be of service,” Sylas said with a smile. “Why would this Graham want to get data storage if your people need things to survive out here?”

“Graham is the spiritual leader of the Iconoclasts,” Zora said with a sigh. “We are close to getting our teachings out beyond Monarch and Graham has been trying his hardest to push it there at the expense of the followers he already has.”

“And you’ve been stuck holding it together,” Sylas extrapolated with a nod. “What can I do to help?”

This may be another mistake, but these people needed as much help, if not more, than those in Stellar Bay. Sylas couldn’t just abandon them. 

“Graham is going to ask you to take the rollers Nyoka picked up to the printing press to the west of the Northern Ruins. He sent some of my best people to go secure it. People I needed when we went to the Northern ruins and got ambushed by a mantiqueen and then raptidons,” Zora said with a frown. “Can you make sure they get back here as soon as you find them.”

“You got it,” Sylas confirmed. “I’ll make sure we head out as soon as possible to Fallbrook. We have some things to do there, but then I’ll call my ship and head out of Stellar Bay.”

“Understood. I really appreciate it. I can’t keep losing people.”

Sylas looked from Zora to the wilderness just outside Amber Heights walls. The sun was just peeking out from the horizon, turning the sky to a mix of blues, purples, and pinks. It was beautiful. 

“Well, I need to check up on my other charges,” Zora said, standing up. “Thanks for listening.”

“Anytime,” Sylas said with a smile, getting up slowly to stretch. 

“Graham does his work above the saloon and he should be up right now. You may want to go talk to him.”

Sylas nodded as Zora headed back down the stairs. As the sun breached the horizon, Amber heights started to wake up. He gently placed his bag back inside the room and made his way through town. It would be interesting to talk to a Philosophist about religion. 

What faults would he find in these arguments?

  
  


Max couldn’t ignore the spring in his step as they entered through Fallbrook’s gates. They had left Amber Heights just after dawn, Sylas having already spoken to both Zora and Graham about the next steps in helping the Iconoclasts. Max tried to discuss what Sylas thought of the Philosophists, but he wasn’t very talkative during their travels beyond agreeing to help Nyoka gather her old team’s medallions to bury. 

It was a nice sentiment, to try and give someone else peace while Sylas fought for his own. 

It was what he was trying to do for Max. 

Max shook off the creeping guilt, knowing that this was what he needed to do. Chaney needed to pay for selling him a pile of lies in the form of a book in a language not spoken in this colony. And then Max would deal with the consequences. 

“Hey, Max, is this the address you found for your scholar?” Sylas asked, standing front of a partially open door. Had Max not been thinking of his revenge, he would have probably called it out first. 

“That is correct, Captain,” Max replied, stepping forward as Sylas pushed the door open. There wasn’t much to be seen inside. Few, if any, personal belongings lay in the corner locker and on the bed. “This is Reginald’s stuff, all right, but it looks like he’s not home. Let’s search the room, try to figure out where he’s gone.

Sylas gave him a nod while Nyoka stood outside to keep out anyone nosy enough to ask them what they were doing. Max’s heart began to beat quickly. They were so close, but he couldn’t find anything in his search to lead them in the right direction.

He couldn’t just wait for Reggie here!

“Found a data pad,”Sylas announced. “Looks like he’s down the river panning for gold…”

“I guess even scholars need to find ways to make ends meet in exile,” Max replied, looking over to Sylas. The man continued to look around the room with a slight frown. “Is there a problem, Captain?”

Did he figure out this was all a ruse? Were his slips of the tongue clicking together to lead the Captain to the conclusion that he was being used?

“I would have thought a scholar would have more books,” Sylas murmured before heading out the door. “But who am I to say what constitutes a scholar nowadays. The dock is down the road. I’ll call the ship over so Nyoka can get some well earned rest and we’ll talk to your translator.”

“I don’t mind taking a slight detour on my way to hit the hay, Cap,” Nyoka replied as they began their walk to the landing pad. “Wouldn’t hurt to have another set of eyes on this guy.”

Sylas shook his head as they climbed the ramp up above the ship repair bays. 

“Nah, Max and I’ve got it. Just a guy panning for gold,” Sylas replied. “I think you deserve the rest of the day off since you picked up a task for me while I was out cold.”

“Alrighty, Cap,” Nyoka said, glancing over to Max. 

If Sylas wasn’t onto him, she definitely was. But she also didn’t seem to be the type to push help onto people who didn’t want it.

Soon, the Unreliable landed and Nyoka retired as he and Sylas turned off toward the river.

“You seem tense,” Sylas said as they splashed into the shallow running water. 

“I must admit to a certain anxiousness,” Max replied as they waded down stream. That wasn’t a lie, but fear was not the root of that anxiety. “To be able to… question Chaney, to get some answers from him. I feel -I don’t know?- young again.”

It was a thrill to feel his blood surging through him. The thought of taking revenge after years of chasing a fairy tale was exhilarating. 

“Ah, is this where I see the violent enthusiasm you speak about?” Sylas asked, looking at him from the side with a smirk. 

Yes, it would be. 

It was hard to think that, despite wrestling with controlling his own anger, Sylas would enjoy the idea that Max was going to thoroughly injure the man they were about to meet. The way he reacted after he took on the thugs in Stellar Bay was dripping with guilt, not fond remembrance.

“Hah, Not quite that young,” Max replied, letting the younger man enjoy his ignorance for a moment longer. 

Sylas took the lead as they turned the bend to find a small camp.

And there he was. The bastard looked utterly calm as he stood there and smoked a cigarette.

“What do you want?” Reginald Chaney asked Sylas before seeing Max. Max narrowed his eyes as they made eye contact. “Oh… hey, Vicar Max? What -uh- are you doing on Monarch? I thought scienticians ain’t welcome here.”

Chaney’s tone changed as soon as he recognized Max, and it fueled the drive he had been building for years.

“Haven’t you heard? Everyone’s welcome here! It’s a fucking worker’s paradise! But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” Max snarled, moving past Sylas as he spoke. “Never worked a day in your miserable life. You’re just a parasite, living off my goodwill. Well, guess what? My goodwill’s exhausted, along with my temper.”

“Hey, What’s going on, Max?” Sylas asked, eyes wide as he moved to stay between him and Chaney. “Let’s all calm down here…”

“This is the guy who told me about the book while we were in prison. I lied about finding a scholar” Max replied, pushing past Sylas as Chaney backed away. “But I don’t care about that anymore. I just want to inflict massive amounts of pain on this guy.”

“So you’re just going to give up everything you’ve ever believed in just for revenge?!” Sylas yelled, keeping in step with Max. It was cute to see that he was trying to quell the rage inside Max with reason. 

If the Plan couldn’t quell it, why did this imposter Captain 70 years out of time think he could?

“Yes, that’s about the long and short of it,” Max replied with a cold smirk as he shoved Sylas out of the way. “Now, where were we? Oh that’s right, I was about to beat you. Severely.”

Chaney was backed against the Fallbrook wall and cowering as Max stalked forward. He didn’t even register the attempts at placating him through offers of an actual translator or Sylas yelling at him to stop.

He was almost within reach of Chaney when he was suddenly on his back.

  
  


Sylas pinned Max to the ground, feeling the slight drip of blood on his lip. It wasn’t the best idea to use his time dilation to get in front of Max so soon after passing out from overuse, but he couldn’t just let Max go to town on this guy. 

So he found himself straddling the Vicar’s waist, using all his upper body strength to keep Max’s upper arms pinned to the ground. 

Goddamn, those vestments really hid the muscle Max was packing. 

Max’s eyes bored into Sylas as he tested his constraints with a grunt. Sylas wouldn’t be able to hold him for long, but maybe it was long enough for the anger to dissipate. 

He had to ignore that this man had lied and used him to get here, and he allowed it. Every. Single. Time. 

Sylas’ own anger built up, but that was a blowup for another day. Or Hour.

“Stop,” Sylas ordered, his voice lowering. “It’s not too late. Maybe the answer you’re looking for _is_ in that book.”

Max struggled again before taking a deep breath and relaxing under Sylas’ weight. 

“Okay, okay,” Max replied, keeping eye contact with Sylas. “Talk, Reggie.”

Sylas looked for any sense of deception in Max’s face as Chaney rambled about the book's original owner, a hermit who lived alone on Scylla. 

“There, our next stop,” Sylas said, getting up, but still standing over Max blocking his direct line of sight of Chaney. 

“I don’t think so. A crazed hermit on Scylla?” Max retorted, getting up and dusting himself off. “He’s playing us for fools.”

“I’ll decide that,” Sylas challenged. “Head back to the mouth of the canyon, Vicar.”

Sylas probably earned the scowl that Max wore. Max seemed to have premeditated this whole interaction well in advance, maybe since he realized the book was in french. 

It took all of Sylas’ willpower to stand sturdy between Max and his object of violent enthusiasm. Max had at least a six inch height advantage on Sylas’ short frame and could probably take him out easily if he really wanted to. 

But he backed off, glaring at Chaney one more time before stepping into the river and walking out of sight back up stream. 

“Explain,” Sylas ordered the man that he just saved from getting his ass beat.

“My father collected extra bits on the side by diverting some supplies to the gal,” Chaney explained, looking afraid of him now. “The way he told it, he thought it looked valuable. So, he took it. Couldn’t find any buyers when it turned out to not only be French but also banned.”

Sylas sighed, trying to let go of the anger bubbling in his gut towards Max. This guy may have left out the part of the book being in French, but he didn’t deserve to be beaten within the edge of his life for it. 

“Why’d you tell him about it?” Sylas asked. 

“I was tired of his high and mighty speechifying all the time!” Chaney replied. “It was a joke, I swear. I didn’t mean nothin’ by it! I didn’t expect the Vicar to actually take it seriously…”

“He’s a preacher, what did you expect?” Sylas asked before shaking his head. It didn't really matter. Max continued to show he was more than just some priest every day. “So a Hermit on Scylla?”

“Yeah, that's all I really know. She would be somewhere in the larger abandoned Hephaestus mining camp,” Chaney replied with a nod. “And thanks for saving my life. I’ve never seen him get attacked before and back down.”

“I’m sure saving your life is a bit of an exaggeration.”

“Exaggeration? Has the Vicar told you what he did to old Lem?” Chaney said with a shake of his head. “He’s still eating through a tube, last I heard. I’d be careful getting in between him and something that pisses him off again.”

Sylas sighed, knowing that kind of anger could get out of hand quickly. It was something to be kept in check. 

“Alright, I’ll keep it in mind. Thanks for the info.”

And like that, Sylas was splashing down the river back to town. He should have known Max would distort the truth. He had lied about why he wanted the book when they were back in the Emerald Vale. 

How’d the saying go? ‘ _Fool me once? Shame on you. Fool me twice? Shame on me._ ’

He couldn’t even believe he had worried Max would turn him into the Board just hours ago. The man was just a liar and Sylas fell for it.

As Sylas rounded the bend, he saw Max standing patiently at the mouth of the canyon like instructed. Max turned when he heard Sylas’s footsteps. He had seemed to calm down a bit, a slight frown on his face.

“Can we talk?” Max asked as Sylas waded past, hesitation in his voice.

“No. We have some Philosophists to rescue.”


	8. Chapter 8

Felix closed the copy of Dissident Hunter he had begun reading as they landed in Fallbrook. Finally he could actually go out and get some adventure in the wilds of Monarch instead of lounging in the ship all day. 

He headed to the airlock, hearing ADA welcome Nyoka back to the ship. 

“How’d the hike go?” Felix asked, looking to see if the Captain and Max would follow shortly. 

“Pretty smooth, everything considered,” Nyoka replied, dropping her haul bag in the front bins before heading back up the stairs. “Cap passed out after a mantisaur fight and didn’t wake up, but the sawbones at Amber Heights took care of him.”

The boss passed out? Well, as long as he was alright now. The mantisaur must have snuck up on him. 

“Where is the boss, anyway?”

“Him and the Vicar went to find that translator down river,” Nyoka replied. “I’d put 50 bits on only one of them coming back though.”

Felix blinked in confusion. Despite him not knowing what the boss saw in Vic, they had gotten along pretty well. 

“Why you say that, Nyoka?” Parvati asked, coming out from her room. “Both of ‘em are nice folk.”

“Cuz the Vicar was being real dodgy about this ‘translator’ since we started talking about the guy,” Nyoka said, setting her guns in her room. “We checked out his place on the way in here. The guy didn’t have much, but scholarly types always have books. This one had _a_ data pad.”

“So you think Vicky had an ulterior motive?” Ellie asked, leaning in her doorway.

“All I know is it was suspicious and the Captain defended the man anyway,” Nyoka said with a shrug. “Not my place to get in between the arrangement they made.”

“So you just let them go off by themselves?” Felix asked, confused. If she had known Max wasn’t being truthful, why hadn’t she brought it up?

“I offered to go with them,” Nyoka retorted. “The captain said no. It’s not my fault he wants to go get caught up in whatever messed up shit the Vicar has planned for this ‘scholar’.”

Felix huffed and headed to his room. If Nyoka didn’t want to do the right thing, he would. 

It took him longer than he would have liked to get on his armor, but he headed out soon enough.

He didn’t even make it to the river before he saw the boss walking quickly towards the ship with a frown, followed by Max, who wouldn’t even look up at him. 

“Good, you’re ready. Back on the ship,” the boss said to Felix as he passed. “You’re coming with Max and I to do a rescue for the Iconoclasts.”

Felix followed, looking between the boss and Max. The boss didn’t seem angry, but then again, he did have a little bit of blood dribbling down from his nose. 

"Sounds like a good time, boss,” Felix replied, hesitant. He would have to talk to him about Nell later. 

Spending a good part of yesterday at Left Field was a nice treat, but the more he got to know the nice bartender, the less interesting she became. Yeah, she could talk tossball like any pro, but she wasn’t interested in any of the cool stories he had about their adventures so far. She was pretty, and even suggesting they head back to her place once the last game finished. 

But he turned her down. 

It didn’t feel right. Not without talking to the boss first.

ADA greeted them as they boarded the ship. Sylas quickly headed to navigation as he and Max waited in the airlock hold. 

“So… I take it you didn’t get your book translated?” Felix asked. Looking over into the cargo hold, he could see Ellie and Parvati peeking from behind the upper railing with wide eyes.

“No. I didn’t.”

“So you’re going to stick with us for a while?”

“It’s up to the Captain.”

As the ship took off, the boss passed them to dump some items in the cargo hold. 

“Well, the boss seems to like you,” Felix said with a shrug. “Don’t know why. You’re starchier than a Spectrum potato. But you’ve got a mean left hook. I respect that.”

“Thanks, I think.”

Felix could feel the tension in the air. Something went down by the river and it didn’t end up as bad as Nyoka predicted, but it wasn’t good. If Max had lied to the boss, it made sense that he was keeping the Vicar close. 

“Did the boss really pass out?”

“I take it Ms. Remnarim-Wentworth summarized our excursion for you?”

“Along with other things,” Felix replied with a shrug.

“We got ambushed. He got hit pretty hard, but saved me from a plasma blast right after,” Max relayed. “I’m not well read in medicine, but I think the injury only took effect after his adrenaline wore off. But he’s fine now.”

“Wish I had been there to see it,” Felix sighed. 

“The day is still young.”

  
  


Max followed quietly as they disembarked back in Stellar Bay. Sylas was purposefully not looking in his direction as they weaved through the streets and exited out the northern gate. Based on the map, the printing press was not far from the northern ruins and they should be able to get back to the ship by nightfall. 

His body ached from going on two days of battling their way through the wildlands and being tackled and held to the ground by Sylas himself. 

He had never been pinned like that before. Not while playing tossball in seminary. Not in any of the brawls he had in prison. 

It had been what brought him back out of his anger. Or the most violent depths of it at least. Chaney still had given him a book he couldn’t even read, but Sylas had been right. Just because it was in French didn’t mean it didn’t still have insight into the Plan. 

Why was the captain keeping him around? 

It wasn’t for Max’s shooting capability, as seen when they had to deal with the marauders that had moved into the ruins. He may have dealt with one or two, but Felix and Sylas carried that fight. 

At one point, one of the goons snuck up behind Max, but was shot down. 

It was a harrowing sight to look over to where Sylas had hunkered down to see the barrel of the sniper rifle pointed at him for a second longer than was comfortable before moving along. 

When he wanted, Sylas knew how to send a message. 

The fight was soon over, but the captain still wouldn’t look at him for more than a second or two. 

“So, Vic, what was it like in prison?” Felix asked as they combed through the bodies for anything useful.

“I don’t like to talk about it,” Max replied, stuffing some extra adreno into his bag. He knew he would eventually regret mentioning that he had a stint as a penitentiary Vicar.

“Was it run by Spacer’s Choice?” Felix pushed.

“What part of ‘I don’t like to talk about it’ do you not understand?” Max asked, irritated. Felix wasn’t stupid, he knew something was going on between him and the Captain. Now he was just pushing buttons. “Is it the ‘don’t’? Because it can’t be the ‘talk’.”

“I bet it was a Spacer’s choice prison,” Felix continued. “Did you _Taste the Freedom_?”

“It baffles me why the captain puts up with your willful idiocy, Mr.Millstone.”

“I find his curiosity refreshing compared to the rest of this colony,” Sylas said as he placed some ammo into his personal bag. “I’m surprised you don’t feel the same. Scientific inquiry is fueled by curiosity or necessity, or does OSI skim over that in seminary?"

It was the first direct question since Chaney and the Captain was taking Felix’s side.

“If Felix expressed interest in actual scientific inquiry instead of my past, I would be happy to fulfill that curiosity,” Max replied. “Otherwise, I would like to keep that part of my life where it belongs.”

Sylas gave a nod before continuing west through the rest of the ruins and towards the base of a hill. 

“He didn’t even continue talking,” Felix murmured once Sylas had gone far enough ahead. “You must have really fucked up, Max.”

“So now I’m Max?” Max responded, looking sideways at the young man. He wore concern on his face, looking ahead to the captain and then back to Max. 

“I mean, from what Nyoka said, sounded like a Max problem, not a Vicar problem,” Felix replied with a shrug. “What did ya do?”

Max expected Nyoka to say something to the crew when she was the only one to board the ship, but he wasn’t sure if she would vent all her suspicions. And Felix caught from whatever Nyoka had told him that this, in fact, was not an issue because of Max’s position, but an urge of his character.

Sylas had halted, peering through scope on his rifle as they approached. Uphill wasn’t optimal to shoot things from long distances. 

“I lied to the Captain so he would take me to Fallbrook so I could beat a man severely for lying to me.”

Felix blinked a few times before looking at him directly, eyes furrowed. 

“You wanted to beat someone up over a book?” Felix asked. “Dumb thing to lie about.”

“A book I spent several years of my life meticulously organizing favors for,” Max clarified. “And it ended up being in french. What a waste.”

“I mean, I’m sure someone in Halcyon knows French,” Felix said. “They use it in ads for Auntie Cleos all the time. Still sounds like a stupid lie to me. I beat my old forman with my tossball stick for some bad remarks about the Rangers and the boss still hired me on.”

“I surely don’t think he would have allowed me to go through with it had I been up front,” Max countered. 

“Will never know now,” Sylas muttered from his crouched position. 

“Wait, boss, did you let him attack the guy?” Felix asked. 

“No, but not for his lack of trying.”

Max’s face warmed slightly as the thought of the Captain pinning him down flashed into his mind once again. 

And once again, he forced it down. He was acting on the Plan’s behalf. Max fought it for revenge and now he paid the price of it’s correction.

“You never take me on the fun missions, boss,” Felix whined. 

“We just took down some marauders and there's a big pack of rapts ahead,” Sylas replied, pulling his rifle down from his eye to look at Felix. “I was going to try to snipe them for efficiency, but do you want me to just hinder them?”

"You’d do that for me, boss?!”

“Start sneaking up there and wait until my shots stop,” Sylas instructed, pulling the scope back up to his eye. “Max, will you please make sure he doesn’t hurt himself too badly.”

“Of course, Captain.”

  
  
After a longer than expected hike uphill and several packs of Raptidons, Sylas was able to locate the Van Noy’s, the sibling pair of fighters Zora wanted back in Amber heights. The Van Noy’s group lost a couple of people, including their medic, but it could have been worse. 

Sylas sent the team home before entering Terra One Publications. The raptors were easy enough to clear out with only minimal damage to the equipment inside the building. It took them a bit longer to scavenge and figure out where the rollers needed to be installed. 

Sylas could feel his body beginning to ache. He had been trudging along since before dawn after being on bedrest because of his injuries and the added stress of the mess with Max was not helping. 

He felt bad for being callous to Max, but they had a job to do first, it wasn't the time to have a heart felt discussion. 

Sylas was also pissed, but he didn't want that to overrule his reasoning. He felt the anger bubbling up inside again, but he tried to let it simmer before he started to brood. That would only bring up more feelings that he didn’t want to work through.

"Captain?” Max asked, as Sylas worked to get the rollers aligned through the control computer. 

They had completed finding the Philosiphists, so Max had every right to want to talk about earlier. 

That didn’t mean that Sylas also wanted to have this discussion. 

“Sylas, I want to say thank you for… talking some sense into me back with Chaney,” Max continued, not letting Sylas’s cold shoulder stop him. “It has been a long time since I gave into my violent enthusiasm.”

Despite how calm Max was when he said that, it sent a spark into the pain below the anger. 

"Cut the shit, Max!” Sylas yelled, turning to face him. Felix, who had been going through some bins in the back of the room jumped, but that didn’t stop Sylas. “You lied to me about Chaney! At every fucking step we took to find him, you lied to me! After I told you everything, you still lied!”

Max took a step back, nearly shrinking, before straightening up. 

“You’re right, I owe you an apology. I’ve been so obsessed, for so long… I couldn’t see anything else,” Max replied. His eyes broke from Sylas’ as he spoke, and Sylas could feel the rage sputter and the regret begin to constrict his chest. “I had intended to make this arraignment as peaceful a transition as possible, but you offered me a real place on your crew. You offered me friendship and you opened up, and I still used you to get to Chaney. And even when everything blew into the open, you saved me from myself. I don’t know if I could have lived with myself had I gone through with it.”

Sylas deflated, looking for some kind of clue that this was just another manipulation on Max’s part. He couldn’t handle being betrayed a second time.

“You owe me nothing, I know,” Max continued, glancing to the ground before looking back up at him. “But I’m.. I’m begging your forgiveness.”

Sylas leaned back on the counter to steady himself, looking over to Felix. He hadn’t moved onto the next crate yet, but he wasn’t actively watching the discussion unfold. Small mercies.

“This morning, I was so worried you were just going to leave and turn me into the board,” Sylas admitted. “This situation isn’t much better, and you still might leave. I can’t force you to stay, but I also don’t know if I can actually trust you with anything either, Max. If you found it so easy to lie about wanting to go kill a guy, what else have you lied about. Did you actually mean it when you said you believed that I came from Earth or was that just another ploy?”

“I did,” Max replied simply. “It’s nearly impossible for you to have survived and made it as far as you have, but after everything I’ve seen you do, it is hard to refute.”

Sylas took a deep breath, letting his head fall back as he closed his eyes. 

He wanted to believe Max so badly. The older man was intelligent and competent and had enough dry humor to keep throwing Sylas for a loop. He liked having Max around. 

Not something Sylas thought he’d think given all the shit priests gave him back home for being who he was. Max didn’t know, or didn’t care. Who you loved in Halcyon didn’t seem to matter much as long as you stayed within your contracts. 

“Alright, Max.” Sylas said, opening his eyes and looking at the Vicar. “I forgive you. You ever lie to me-about anything- and I find out? You’re gone.”

He wanted to be friends with Max, but he was a Captain and had hundreds of thousands of lives resting on his shoulders. One friendship could be set aside for the good of everyone else.

“Thank you,” Max replied with his slight smile and a nod. “I promise, I’ll be nothing but truthful from this point forward.”

Sylas nodded and finished up with the rollers. It felt good to have that dealt with so amicably. He wasn’t quite expecting that Max would completely own up, but it made his promise more believable. 

The walk back to Stellar Bay was quiet. Nothing seemed to have moved into the Northern Ruins since they had passed through. 

“Hey boss?” Felix asked, looking down the road. 

“What’s up?”

“When were you gonna tell the rest of us you were from Earth?”


	9. Chapter 9

Felix sipped on his second beer of the night as the boss finished laying out the truth of his background to Ellie, Nyoka and him. 

So he wasn’t a hero who has been going against the Board since he was young? That wasn’t a big surprise. Despite all the cool things Felix had seen while on the crew of the Unreliable, the boss didn’t seem as sure of himself as the other captains he met did. 

What he didn’t expect was that he was just someone who got picked out of hundreds of thousands of people on an abandoned ship and told to save the colony. And he was just… doing it. 

The boss had gotten on the Hope on a corporate contract, only being a part of the deal because otherwise his brother wouldn’t go. And the Board really wanted his brother for Halcyon. But now that contract was null and the boss had gotten out of paying his end of the deal, it was time to pay the Board back for leaving them to die by bringing them down. 

He honestly liked this story better. The boss was just a regular guy trying to do what was right. 

“I can’t believe Welles just threw you to the rapts,” Nyoka said, taking a swig of spectrum vodka. “Working as the middle between him and Hiram has been it’s fair share of dangerous, but just outwardly doing his bidding?”

“I mean, what else was I going to do?” the boss asked, taking a drink of his beer. “I can’t just leave Todd on the ship when we have a way to fix it. And, knowing some of the people on that ship, they could really help this colony thrive! It’s good for everyone but the Board.”

“We’ll, I’ve got your back, boss,” Felix said, raising his bottle. “It makes sense why you keep flinching when tossball is on. They probably didn’t have it back on Earth.”

“Or maybe tossball is too violent for some of us, Felix,” Parvati chimed in from the couch. She had known about Sylas pretty much since they had met. They were close, so it wasn’t much of a surprise. 

“That’s what makes it such a good game!” Felix replied.

“I think it was a thing on Earth, but it wasn’t as violent as it is now,” the boss added. “I was never really into sports, but I do remember a new type of lacrosse with a lot more tackling starting to make ground.”

“Lacrosse sounds boring,” Felix replied. 

“Forget sports,” Ellie interrupted, leaning forward on the table. “This means that everything the Board has been teaching about the cryo-freezing process has been a lie.”

“I don’t know if that’s completely true,” the boss replied. “According to Phineas, I’m the first subject that the new procedure has worked on. I’ve been keeping him updated on any side effects that I’ve experienced since waking up.”

“And? Have you had any?”

The boss took a deep breath and rubbed his face before nodding behind his hands. 

“Today has really been a day for truth to come out,” Max commented from behind his book as he leaned against the counter. 

“I didn’t want you all to get caught up in my mess until I knew what was really going on in this colony,” the boss replied. 

“Well, we haven’t rushed off the ship just yet, so you’ve got that going for you,” Ellie said with a shrug. “Now spit it out.”

Felix began taking a drink. Everything seemed par for the course now.

“I can slow down time.”

Felix spit his drink out, luckily not hitting anyone with the spray. 

“WHAT?!” Felix called. Being frozen for seventy years and brought back by a mad scientist? Felix could understand that. But being able to slow down time? This could have only been real on a serial. 

“Now I think that being frozen for seventy years did something to your brain, but giving you powers is not what happened,” Ellie replied, leaning back in her seat.

“I’d believe it,” Nyoka shrugged. Ellie motioned for her to continue. “Look, you weren’t there on the way to Fallbrook. But the captain had moved like 30 yards in only a few seconds to save the Vicar from a plasma attack and then jumped up to kill two other bugs a few seconds later.”

“And then he fainted,” Max added. 

Felix thought back to their time on Roseway. The boss would have taken out at least one raptidon or a few marauders before he or Max could get off one shot. Guns just didn’t shoot that fast, even in the hands of trained soldiers. 

“Can you do it now?” Felix asked. 

“I guess? Is there something you want me to do?” the boss asked with hesitation. 

Felix looked around before looking at his nearly empty bottle, a grin spreading on his face.

“I’m going to drop my bottle on the floor and you need to catch it,” Felix said, standing up. 

“I don’t know if that will-” the boss started.

“But I’m going to be at the end of the hall and you’ll start where you are at,” Felix finished. 

“I can’t slow time for that long... “

Felix walked down the hallway as the others moved to the doorways of his and Parvati’s room. 

“You can do it, boss,” Felix said, holding the bottle at his eye level. “3...2...1”

Felix dropped the bottle and the boss seemed to disappear before he reappeared right in front of him a second later. He caught the bottle mid fall, but ended up barreling into Felix and sending both of them to the floor. 

He couldn’t hear what the rest of the crew said with the ringing in his ears and the pressure of the boss on top of him. 

“Sorry, sorry,” the boss apologized, getting off of him. “We should really stop ending up like this,” he added with a chuckle, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Yeah,” Felix replied with a quiet laugh, hoping that the sudden heat he felt enveloping his face wasn’t apparent. “Well, you definitely caught it.”

“I did,” the boss said with a slight smile, offering a hand to pull Felix up. Felix took it, ignoring the pain in his back and focusing on the flush that was spreading up the boss’s neck. 

What Felix wouldn’t give to go one-on-one in a game of tossball with him. Or just find a secluded corner somewhere- 

Felix shoved that thought down as the boss let go and handed him his bottle. 

“And you don’t have a giant nose bleed this time either,” Nyoka teased. “It’s a useful trick, Cap.”

“As long as I don’t overdo it,” the boss replied, rubbing the back of his neck. “Speaking of that, I should probably rest if we are going to go find that gravesite and talk to this information broker. You’re coming with too, Parvati.”

“You got it, Sy,” Parvati said with a grin before heading deeper into her room. The others returned to the kitchen as the boss started heading downstairs.

Felix stood on the top of the stairwell for a moment, thinking back to his time hanging out with Nell and the little white napkin that the boss had given him. 

“ _ Sorry for being an ass.” _

So much had happened since the altercation between the boss and Nell. 

Felix didn’t want to put off this talk any longer. He didn’t want his intentions with Nell to be confused for something different than what they were. He was tired of his mind running in circles of what ifs? 

What if the boss didn’t care what Felix did in his free time?

But what if he  _ did care _ ?

The fuzzy feeling in his chest flourished for a moment, causing Felix to pause. 

The boss was an attractive man and Felix had slept with men before. Was it weird that he liked his captain? 

Felix shook the thoughts from his head before he followed downstairs. He could have feelings for the boss, but he needed to take it one step at a time.

  
  
  


Sylas stepped into his room, glad to now be completely open with his crew about the mission they were really on. He wished that the feeling of freedom that he felt when telling Max would have happened again, but now he only felt responsible for these people’s lives more than before. If he messed up, if he got caught, they would be targeted too. 

He heard footsteps behind him, someone catching the door and keeping it from closing. 

“Wait, boss, I wanted to talk to you,” Felix said, standing in the doorway when Sylas looked. “Not about your thing with the Hope or your powers.”

Sylas raised an eyebrow as he frowned slightly. 

“Alright, come on in.”

What else would he want to talk about? Was it his comment when he crashed into Felix? He knew he shouldn’t have said it, but it slipped out. Felix probably took it the wrong way. Probably wanted to ask him to not make anymore comments that could be read as Sylas being interested in something more than being his boss. 

Sylas sat down in his desk chair, looking back at the younger man as he surveyed the room. 

“What’s up?” Sylas asked, leaning back into his chair. He tried to calm the sudden pit of anxiety simmering in his stomach. He needed to be a leader, which meant taking criticism professionally.

“Oh, um,” Felix started, eyes starting from looking around the room to Sylas and then to the floor. “I wanted to say thanks for what you did with Nell. It meant a lot after the whole alley thing…”

Ah, Nell. 

Sylas forced a smile onto his face before his real feelings on the subject showed instead. Sylas was his employer, it wasn’t right of him to take advantage of Felix just because he idolized Sylas for getting him off Groundbreaker.

“I’m glad to hear it. Do I need to dart around the system to help your first date too?” Sylas teased, hiding his disappointment. “We might be able to get a discount for buying in bulk.”

“No. No-no. You got it wrong, boss,” Felix retorted, waving his hands in front of him. “Look, I talked with her over datapad and then went to the bar yesterday, but she’s not as interesting as I thought she would be.”

Sylas’s eyebrows raised slightly before he caught himself. So what if Felix didn’t like the bartender as much as he originally thought. That didn’t change the fact that Sylas was an authority figure.

Not that Felix would find someone like Sylas was worth it enough to deal with his lack of sexual attraction anyway.

“Oh, well, I’m sorry it didn’t turn out like you had hoped. You two are still going to be friends, right?”

“Yeah,” Felix confirmed with a nod. “She is still one of the best people to talk to about tossball. But she doesn’t really like anything else I like. She’s really pretty, but that only goes so far.”

So he wasn’t all about looks. 

“That’s good, but she seemed really into you, so you may just need time,” Sylas pointed out. Just because he didn’t experience that kind of attraction didn’t mean he couldn;t tell when others were into each other. 

“Well, yeah, but I’m super cool, boss,” Felix blew off with a shrug. “She invited me over to her place but I didn’t know when you’d call us over…”

Sylas hoped that the sharp inhale of breath he took as he heard that Nell had made a move on Felix wasn’t audible. The anxiety sparked into a simmering possessiveness that he snuffed out as soon as it flared. 

Of course Felix had considered taking her up on the offer. As far as Sylas knew, Felix needed to sleep with someone else every so often for his own mental health. 

“Felix, if you want to go do what you need to do off duty, I won’t stop you-” Sylas started.

“That’s not what I mean, boss!” Felix interrupted, taking a step forward. “I care what you think and, yeah, you were an ass when we first met Nell, but you made it right and, now, I want to do right by you! If you don’t want me to hang around there, give me the word and I won;t talk to her!”

“If I didn’t want you to talk to her, why would I have given you her data pad number?” Sylas shot back. He tried to keep his frustration under control. Why didn’t Felix just let this rest? Sylas had already said that he didn’t care.

He didn’t want to care. It was a small lie.

“I don’t know anymore!” Felix yelled, nearly pleading. “I just found out that you are a teacher from earth who can slow time! Your got real angry when I was flirting with Nell and then you went and got her number for me in the middle of the night! You say that you don’t care if I want to sleep with her but then you get all frozen faced like you’re hidin’ something! Which is it?!”

“If sleeping with Nell makes you happy, then it doesn;t matter what I think!” Sylas shouted, rising out of his chair and taking a step forward. If Felix wouldn’t take the hint, then Sylas would have to make it clear that whatever this was that was growing between them was a bad idea.

Felix didn’t back down. Not like how the man shrunk when Sylas below up in the Stellar Bay alleys.

Instead, Felix took a step towards Sylas.

“It matters because I care about you more than getting laid one time.”

Sylas blinked, the frustration that was about to explode, sputtered instead. 

This wasn’t supposed to happen. He should have held himself back. Any of his crewmates could be killed at any time and it would be his fault. He could be killed at any time. He shouldn’t have tried to make friends. 

They had gotten attached and it was his fault that he would eventually let them down.

Felix looked so fierce in his determination to make Sylas understand. 

Sylas didn’t want to imagine the face Felix would make when he fell short. 

Felix calmed slightly, offering a hand to Sylas. 

“Boss,” Felix tested. “Sy?”

Sylas stood frozen, eyes darting to Felix’s hand and then back to his face. The frustration turned to butterflies in his stomach. 

Apparently Sylas wasn’t responding quick enough, because Felix’s face changed from focused determination to frustration. 

Felix stepped forward and kissed Sylas hard, holding him close by a hand on the base of Sylas’s skull. Felix kissed like he did practically anything else: with the force of his whole body and without a whole lot of forethought. 

Sylas made a surprised sound, more of a whimper than anything truly shocked. His arms locked to his sides, but his mouth responded, if only slightly kissing back, before Felix pulled back. Felix’s eyes showed a fear, or maybe regret, as he kept his hand on Sylas’s neck. 

So Felix did feel at least something for him. 

“Felix,” Sylas breathed, trying to relax. “I-I don’t think this would be a good idea.”

It wasn’t “I don’t want this” or “Don’t ever do that again.”

Felix retracted his hand, but didn’t step away. 

“What do you mean, boss?”

“I- We haven’t known each other for very long-”

“And? If people click, how long they’ve known each other doesn’t matter,” Felix retorted. “Correct me if I’m wrong here, boss, but I thought we clicked.”

Sylas really wished he didn;t have to deal with this tonight. He was already drained from the ordeal with Max and then talking to the crew. But Felix deserved the truth on this, just like everyone else deserved the truth about working for him. 

“You deserve someone that can give you everything you need Felix,” Sylas replied, voice going soft. “I don’t know if I will ever be able to do that for you.”

The slight frown on Felix’s face hurt more than any shot of plasma to the back ever could. Sylas had tried to let him down easy, to deal with his own feelings when he had the time to. But it seemed like Felix already got too close to not get hurt. 

“Boss, you have provided for me more in the last month that I’ve known you than anyone ever even considered doing while I was on Groundbreaker,” Felix replied. “I don’t see how you think you wouldn’t be more than enough for a guy like me.”

How low did Felix have to think of himself to think that Sylas, a teacher seventy years behind the times and barely holding everything together, would be more than enough. Sylas took a small step back, needing to put some distance between them or he wouldn;t keep a clear enough head to say what he needed to say.

“You remember when Parvati was talking to me about how worried she was with Junlei? How she was worried about her not liking the physical stuff and Junlei got bored. How people who she thought cared about her ended up not because of it?”

“Yeah, boss. You talked about it at the bar on Groundbreaker,” Felix replied, looking confused until he didn’t. Like a light turned on in his head. “You’re like Parvati. Did people do that to you?”

Sylas took a deep breath, nodding as he looked anywhere but Felix’s face. This was the right thing to do, nip it in the bud early before it hurt more.

“Look, bo- Sy,” Felix said, stepping forward and taking one of Sylas’s hands in his. “I won’t lie and say that I don’t enjoy the physical stuff. It’s really great and I would really like if we- What I’m trying to say is that I think this could be real good, if we both worked at it.”

In all the times Sylas had tried being with someone before, no one had sounded so genuine in the want to make it work. 

“I know I can’t fix the ship like Parvati or hold a boring conversation about science or religion or whatever you talk about with Max, but I can-” Felix started, but sylas stopped that string of thought.

“You don’t need to prove yourself to me,” Sylas said, giving his hand a squeeze. He couldn’t believe he was actually considering this. 

But here he was, hand in hand with a guy he only met a month ago and would do a long list of horrible things just to make sure he felt like he belonged. 

Fuck. Sylas must have been ignoring a whole lot of emotional need to ignore the logical thing to do this fast,

But Felix was smiling now and it was worth it. 

“You know, boss,” Felix said, pulling Sylas close. “Me not having to prove myself to you makes no sense when you basically are saying you can’t prove yourself good enough for me.”

Sylas looked up at him with a slight huff, knowing he was right. It was hypocritical for him to say Felix didn’t have to prove himself when Sylas did. 

Felix’s grin split across his face when he knew he had beaten Sylas, pulling him into a tight hug. 

“What if it doesn’t work out?” Sylas asked, trying not to melt into the hug. He hadn’t really had a good hug since… he couldn’t remember. When he said goodbye to his parents before boarding The Hope? 

“Then it doesn’t work out. We go back to being friends. Not everything has to be hard, Sy,” Felix replied simply. “You gotta stop thinkin’ so much. One of these days you’re gonna get ate by a Mantisuar or somethin’.”

Sylas let out a hoarse laugh, putting his face into the crook of Felix’s neck. One of these days he might. Hopefully not any time soon. He had a lot of people to save first.

“So me being like Parvati doesn’t bother you?” Sylas asked. If they were going to do this, he wanted to make sure Felix was as informed as he could be. 

“Parvati is real nice and she cares a lot,” Felix replied. “I see why you two are so close. We’ll figure it out between your brain and my ever growing knowledge of romance serials.”

Sylas pulled back to look up at him with a smirk. 

“I didn’t take you for a romance kinda guy, Felix Millstone.”

“Parvati really likes them and serials are better when you have someone to talk about them with,” Felix defended, his cheeks flushing. “Plus they can be nice.”

“I used to watch romance movies with my mom,” Sylas admitted with a sad smile. “They were cheesy, but nice.”

“I’ll admit it is really nice to have someone who can give you a good fuck when you need it, but long term stuff is built on things like watching romance serials together.” Felix said. “Or, at least that’s what seems to work in the serials.”

“Alright,” Sylas said, snaking his arms around Felix’s waist as Felix draped his over Sylas’s shoulders. “We’ll have a go at it.”

They stood there, quiet, swaying gently. 

Sylas needed it. No matter what he wanted to admit, he wouldn’t have made it this far without Felix. Or Max. Or Parvati. Or the rest of the crew. 

They kept him going, and he needed to be there for them in return. 

Felix’s clothes hid his lean frame. Working hard on not enough money would do that to someone, but Sylas would help change that. He would help change everything in Halcyon. 

“Hey,” Felix said softly. When Sylas looked up, Felix captured his mouth in another kiss. It was gentler this time. Not frustrated like before, but just as full of what made him Felix. Sylas kissed back, trying to keep in pace, but knew he lacked any kind of consistent experience. 

Felix gently nipped his bottom lip when a crash came from the hall outside. 

They both pulled away slightly before Sylas sighed and let go of Felix. 

The door to the room was still open. Of course they couldn;t have any peace on this ship. 

Sylas headed to the door and stopped when he found Parvati laid sprawled upside down in the stairwell, Max watching from the top with his hands behind his back. Felix bumped into Sylas back when he didn’t continue moving and gave a nervous laugh seeing half the crewmates probably listening to everything that happened. 

“Hey Sy,” Parvati said as she started to get up. “Didn;t mean to interrupt…”

“It was Dr.Fenhill’s idea,” Max explained, jerking his head in the direction of Ellie’s cabin. 

“Law, Max!” Ellie yelled. 

Sylas nodded at the situation. This was enough for one night. 

“You know what? I’m going to bed for real this time,” Sylas announced, putting his hands up and turning back into his room. As he passed, he leaned on Felix for a moment. “Night, Felix.”

He could feel the grin Felix gave as Sylas retreated to his bed and Felix stepped into the stairwell. 

“Night, Sy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewrote this chapter several times because Felix decided he wanted to ignore my wishes for a slowburn (impatient little shit) and Sylas is a shy man who can't figure out what he wants. Please enjoy!


	10. Chapter 10

Max sat quietly in the kitchen, sipping tea as he listened to a recording of the previous night’s tossball game. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but with the captain out, Ellie off somewhere -getting drunk, he was sure- and Felix staying in his room if he was awake, it was a nice distraction.

They had flown over to Fallbrook early in the morning, and now were on call.

It gave him a lot of time to ruminate. 

The crew dynamic had taken a drastic shift in the last day. 

Not even a day, really. 

It had been only twelve or so hours since the altercation with Chaney, which led to the captain spilling his true origins and goal. He wasn’t a mysterious figure anymore. 

Max was moved from confidant to ticking time bomb who needed to prove himself again. 

Felix had shifted from crewmember to the captain’s partner. Or they were at least not just friends now. 

They were all accomplices on a plan to undermine the Board’s power in the colony and bring possibly several thousand people into the mix who hadn’t grown up here. They didn’t know what it was like to live in Halcyon. 

But that was the point, wasn’t it? They weren’t indoctrinated by the Board. 

Maybe it would help. They couldn’t know for certain. The people on Monarch seemed grateful for their freedoms despite being on a shit hole moon. 

But what if these ideals aren’t adopted by the masses. Like those who used to live in Edgewater, many of the common folk would be left to their own devices for the first time in their lives. And then they’d be picked off by marauders, hostile creatures, starvation, or disease. 

Their dream was a hopeful one, but it was just that. A dream. 

The universe didn’t care about hope and dreams. It was a logical machine that continued with it’s plan regardless of any one person’s feelings on the matter. People needed to take the part they were given or be corrected for defying the natural order. 

What part did the captain play in the equation? Was this just one part of the plan that they just hadn’t deciphered or did Welles forcefully pull Sylas from his destined path to lay frozen forever? Was all the adversity that Sylas had faced since he was defrosted the Grand Equation trying to correct for a variable that was once obsolete?

But Sylas had continued to succeed. If the plan was trying to restore order, it wasn’t working. As soon as he had expressed his ideas of looking into Philosophist texts for answers to the equation, he was put into prison. He was forced to reflect and came out corrected. 

But nothing like that was happening now. 

“Never would have guessed you’d be one for tossbal, Max.”

Felix’s voice brought him out of his mental conversation with himself. The young man began investigating the kettle on the stove, swirling what was left of this morning’s batch of tea with a small frown. 

“I see I’ve graduated from ‘Vic’ to ‘Max’. Wonderful,” Max replied, realizing the game was still playing despite him not having paid attention to the last fifteen minutes or so.

“What with you being a church-man,” Felix continued. “Don’t it take the fun out of tossball if the winner’s pre-determined by the Law?”

“The only thing that takes the fun out of tossball is the Chosen’s new fool of a coach.”

Felix stopped staring into the dregs in the bottom of the pot to instead stare at him. 

“Are we actually agreeing on something?” Felix asked, bewildered. “”I think we are.”

“It was bound to happen at some point,” Max replied with a shrug. “It is statistically improbable that all of your opinions could be wrong.”

“Get spaced, Max,” Felix responded before returning to the tea. He poured what was left into a cup and took a big sip. 

Max had to hold back his laughter as Felix’s face scrunched and he poured what was in the mug down the sink. 

“It’s so bitter,” he murmured after a moment.

“It’s tea, Mr.Millstone. It’s usually somewhat bitter,” Max explained with a slight grin. “Though, that has been sitting, so it isn’t as good as fresh.”

“How do you and the boss drink it?” 

“I can’t speak for the Captain, but I enjoy the herbal notes of tea alongside the bitter ones. It takes time and patience to brew a good cup of tea,” Max said, standing up and taking the pot. He rinsed it and refilled it with water before setting it on the stove. “It is also much cheaper than coffee and just as caffeinated.”

“I think I’ll just stick with Lemon Slapp,” Felix murmured, retreating to the fridge. 

“It wouldn’t hurt you to try something out of your comfort zone, Mr.Millstone.”

“Welcome back, Dr. Fenhill,” ADA announced over the speaker as the sound of the airlock door opening and shutting reached the kitchen.

“Vicky! Loverboy! I got a job and I need some fire power,” Ellie called as she climbed the stairs. 

Max took a deep breath and took the pot off the heat. If she needed help, he couldn’t just say no. The small choking sound that came from Felix at his new nickname was a nice compensation though.

“Does it involve swindilin’ people, because I’m no good at those card games you play, Ellie,” Felix said. 

“Nope, we’re gonna go kill some rapts and grab their musk glands,” Ellie said triumphantly as she entered the kitchen. “Remember that endocrinologist back on Roseway?”

“The one that was producing N-raptured underneath Auntie Cleo’s nose?” Max asked, crossing his arms. 

“The very same. Well, apparently he is going through SubLight to get the stuff to his buyers. But, with most of the rapts on Roseway killed, he can’t just be harvesting any old hormones for his side project without jeopardizing his research,” Ellie explained. “So he was trying to get SubLight to get him glands, and I just happened to hear Catherine complaining about it and I picked it up. We can get rich off this stuff!”

Max pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. His body was starting to get used to going out and doing hard hikes, but he wasn’t getting any younger. 

“It’s better than being cooped up in the ship all day,” Felix said with a shrug. “I’m in.”

“Can’t you take the trash can?” Max said. “I was hoping to enjoy a day off.”

“Says the man who has to get back on the Cap’s good side,” Ellie shot back. “Plus SAM only attacks with corrosive blasts, which barely affects raptidons.”

She wasn’t wrong. And taking more than three would attract too much attention. 

“Fine, but I’m not helping dissect the beasts or carry the glands.”

“Great!” Ellie said with a wide grin. “Grab your guns, boys, we’re going hunting!”

  
  


Sylas stood guard in the middle of a large valley amongst the mountains. Nyoka dug into the shallow grave they had come to find, pulling out a small lock box.

“It’s pretty peaceful here,” Parvati murmured, looking around. “Now that the rapts are dead, of course.”

“I’m glad he can rest in peace for now,” Nyoka said, straightening up. “Hayes was the best, self-sacrificing son of a saint I ever met. Halcyon is worse off without him.”

It was nice, being able to help Nyoka have closure. Sylas had only known her for a few days, but by the amount the woman drank, closure was the best option if she was to keep hunting for the foreseeable future. 

“What’s next?” Sylas asked. She had mentioned yesterday that there was a Mantiqueen in their old base, where she wanted to bury the medallions she was collecting. 

“We’ll need to find Rebekah and Anders. They need to be there for it, plus they wouldn’t turn down the chance to take another bug off this moon,” Nyoka replied. “They took a UDL contract on Terra 2 and we never heard from them again. I think it’s time to call in a favor with Hiram. If anyone can track them down, it’s him.” 

Sylas nodded. If the pair had never gotten back into contact with Nyoka once landing on Terra 2, he wondered if they had the intention of ever coming back. Monarch was an interesting place biologically and had more than enough jobs to keep him and his crew busy, but it would have been a harsh place to live. 

They started their hike back to the cave river mouth. While Nyoka had mentioned they could climb the mountain, Sylas decided that it would be better to avoid as much of the local wildlife as possible. It didn’t take more than an hour, the bodies of creatures they had killed getting into the canyon hadn’t drawn in scavengers just yet. 

“So,” Parvati started as they got into view of the road. “You and Felix?”

Sylas knew it was going to come up at some point. He wanted to talk to Parvati about it, but when he and Felix actually got settled into whatever the hell they were.

“Not that I mean to pry or anythin’,” Parvati continued after Sylas didn’t respond. “Seemed like a possibility. Felix had been pinin’ for you for a bit, always being bummed when he wasn’t taken out to help you, but I chalked that up to him getting antsy.”

“I didn’t expect it,” Sylas replied. “I thought he was trying really hard to earn his keep, but I guess I read it wrong.”

“I was honestly kinda surprised. Max seems to be more your type, Cap,” Nyoka replied from her place ahead of them. “And by the way he had his eyes all over you the night before we left, he was interested in you.”

Sylas felt his cheeks warm with a blush. 

Max? Thinking of him in that way?

“You and the Vicar do get along like two tabaccorn kernels on an ear,” Parvati agreed. 

“If he was, then he didn’t say anything to me about it,” Sylas replied after a moment. “He’s probably too preoccupied with his plan to pay it any mind.”

“I hope he finds what he’s lookin’ for on Scylla,” Parvati said as they splashed down into the river. “Would hate for it all be for nothing.”

Sylas nodded as they followed Nyoka into the caverns. Max seemed so invested in this mission of his to be the one to bring the next big breakthrough to the universal equation. If it didn’t work out, it would devastate the man. 

Sylas sighed softly, knowing that, despite everything Max had put him through, he didn’t want to see what Max would become if it did fall through. Sylas admitted to Max’s resilience, doing things he hated for the sake of what he believed in. He sacrificed what were probably decades of his life in prison and trying to get to Edgewater for this. 

Sylas didn’t want to see Max fall apart. 

The caves were quiet, dotted with luminescent fungi flourishing in the trapped moisture of the cave. 

That was until they found the mantisaur nest. The fight ended quickly, the creatures being trapped in a dead end. It was like shooting fish in a barrel, if the fish were giant bugs that could burn you with their spit.

In addition, they found a lone mercenary, a guy by the name Berthold Fox, who was the leader of a group called the Corporate Compliance Crew. Berthold thanked them for saving him from the mantises before following them out and leading them to his camp to organize compensation. 

They had been hired to protect the information broker from marauders, but were very specific about sticking to their contract. Which said they protected the area around Devil’s Peak Station, not inside. 

Which was where the marauders were currently holed up.

Nyoka and him shared a side glance at that and moved on with some extra bits and the promise of a stuffed mantis head for the ship. They would be on their own to clear the station, and if Sylas was honest, it was easier that way. 

He was thankful the marauders were just people who lost their humanity at some point. They were easy to deal with.

Hiram, on the other hand, grated on Sylas’s exhaustion sensitized nerves. He was the right combination of privileged and cowardly to instantly be extremely unlikeable. 

But he had Phineas’s information, so Sylas had to manage. 

Hiram was not a very imposing figure, especially since Sylas had dealt with more than his share of imposing figures in the last month. But he paid well. 

“One hefty payment for a highly valued service rendered,” Hiram said, handing over a bit cart with a large number on it. “But, I admit, I do wonder why Nyoka has brought you to me.”

Hiram was about to continue, but Sylas held a hand up. 

“I understood the question. You don’t need to rephrase it,” Sylas replied, trying to not get frustrated for being talked down to. “You’re the Information Broker. Phinease Welles hired you to get information and I’m here to collect.”

“I suspected as much. He’s the only one insane enough to send someone to Monarch to rush me,” Hiram said, seemingly impressed. “I knew it was only a matter of time before he came a’knocking. I might be late, but I always fulfill my contracts. Always.”

“Oh, you do, do you?” Nyoka asked with a smirk. “I have lost track of the number of beers you owe me for chasing raptidons off your stoop.”

“Are you fibbin?” Parvati added with a slight frown. “Be honest.”

Sylas cocked an eyebrow at the man. His words and actions didn’t exactly line up. 

“I take offense to that,” Hiram said, getting defensive. “Look, okay… Just… It might take me a while this time.”

“Why?” Sylas asked, wanting to get this over and done with. This guy might be able to get any information you needed, but at what cost?

“I’m still waiting on a single incoming transmission containing the information Phineas desires. But MSI and the Iconoclasts have been clogging the aether waves,” Hiram explained. “In their war against each other, they’re scrambling each other’s outgoing transmissions. Thankfully, the Iconoclasts seemed to have quieted down yesterday.”

“So you need me to go get Sanjar to pipe down?”

“Precisely. Then I can have my livelihood back and you can have the information Phieas requested.”

“Is your information any good?” Sylas asked, crossing his arms.

“Excuse me?”

“Just because you call yourself the Information Broker doesn't mean you’re good at your job. Phineas probably already paid you, but I only have had a fifty percent success rate with people he has hired before, which is not a good record. My time might be worth more elsewhere.”

Hiram narrowed his eyes, but straightened up. 

“I do not appreciate what you are insinuating,” Hiram said. “But fine, what would you like to know? I won’t even charge you for it. We’ll call it an exchange for your help with the broadcasts.”

The next thirty minutes of information gathering was well worth the trek up the mountain. Between learning that Phineas may have ulterior motives to the Amber Heights Massacre that delivered MSI ownership of Monarch on the back of Hiram’s information on a legal loophole. Sanjar and Graham used to work together, which explained why they both had a review in the ARMS building, and split after Graham decided Sanjar had become too much like the executives they had wished to cut ties from. Hiram hadn’t intercepted any messages from Earth, but it made sense that nothing coming from there would be worth any bits.

The nugget of gold in the discussion was the information that the Chairman was running a smear campaign on Monarch because, if MSI were to rejoin the Board, they’d be too powerful. 

It meant that Sanjar’s plan would never be passed, even if it would be technically illegal for the Chairman to block it. 

But if MSI could get back into good graces, Sylas would have the strongest person on the board in his debt. MSI could be a force for good in Halcyon, paving the way for workers rights and a better way of life for everyone. 

“Thank you,” Sylas said with a nod. “I’ll be back to collect once I deal with Sanjar.”

“And I’m gonna cash in on a favor too,” Nyoka replied. “But you’ll need to get into UDL’s logs for that.”

“I’ll be waiting here in suspense,” Hiram deadpanned before the trio left. 

“There’s a lot more goin’ on here than I thought,” Parvati commented. 

“Yeah, there is,” Sylas agreed. “But I think it’ll be worth the trouble.”

  
  
  


“Where’d you get your schooling, Max?” Felix asked as he helped the Vicar haul the last rapt corpse into the line of other bodies for Ellie to harvest.

“Nowhere special, Mr.Millstone,” Max replied. “An OSI seminary, same as my peers.”

“They teach you science there? You know- test tubes, formulas, all that sundry?”

“There is more to science than test tubes and lab coats,” Max corrected, but Felix noticed that he wasn’t looking down his nose at the question. “And the study of science is a lifelong commitment, not merely a collection of coursework.”

Felix nodded, picking up his flamethrower and taking up guard over Ellie against anything that would scavenge their kill before they were done with them. 

“You, uh- you got any of your old books?” Felix asked, not looking at the older man. “Just askin’.”

“Why, son, are you expressing an interest in science?” Max asked in a surprised tone. Again, not patronizing. “I suppose I could find you some reading material.”

Ok, there it was. Max was thrown by what happened the day before, but not totally out of his mind. 

“Uh, thanks.”

“You trying to impress Sylas now?” Ellie asked from her spot over the flayed throat of one of the raptidons. “You two already have a thing, loverboy.”

Felix rolled his eyes, not giving into Eliie’s taunts. Maybe he spent a lot of time last night thinking about ways he and Sylas could spend time together that didn’t end up with them releasing tension through fucking. 

He really liked Sylas and he was more than happy to try and work this out given what was going on. But he couldn’t doubt he was a little disappointed. It wasn’t Sylas’s fault he wasn’t interested in sleeping with him, or anyone, but Felix worried about what that would mean in the future. 

Felix had needs and he wanted to fulfill them with Sylas. He thought of the intensity in Sylas’s eyes in the alley and shuttered. He wanted that intensity focused on him. Maybe their relationship would open the longer they were together, but that wasn’t guaranteed. 

He shook the doubt from his mind, walking further out and doing a sweep of the area while keeping Max within sight. It was quiet, the wind rustling through the plants and the crunch of gravel under his boots the only sounds around him. He stood out there for a long time, having to be waived in by Max when Ellie finished. 

He had tried to see what appealed to Sylas by the things out in the waste. It was cool to be in such a hostile environment and survive and conquer. But it wasn’t really something to get lost in. 

Ellie led the way back to Fallbrook, leaving Max and Felix to try and keep up. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you introspective, Mr.Millstone,” Max said, slowing down to put some distance between them and Ellie. “Has our captain’s personality already rubbed off on you?”

Felix narrowed his eyes as he glanced over at Max. The older man didn’t seem to be looking down on him at the moment, but that didn’t mean he wouldn't.

“Just a lot of changes happening at once,” Felix replied, truthful. He and Max connected, even a little. Max wasn’t as much of a prick if even he tried to go kill a guy for lying to him about a book. 

“These are tumultuous times indeed,” Max replied. “Are you going to listen to the Rangers and Hammers game tonight?”

“Um, why wouldn’t I? I never miss a Rangers game.”

“I would have expected you to want to spend time with the Captain. You missed him leaving this morning.”

Max wasn’t wrong. He had slept late and only woke up once Sylas had left. 

“Maybe the boss will listen to the game with me,” Felix said with a shrug. “Or he can do his own thing. We don’t need to be together all the time.”

“It would be interesting to see you try to explain the rules of Tossball to him.”

Now that wasn't a horrible idea. 

“Maybe then we can have a crew tossball game. Though, you’d need to find someone for your team, Vicar,” Felix replied. 

“I thoroughly beat you at the wall tossball game,” Max shot back with his slight smirk. “Why do you think I couldn’t do the same against you and someone who hasn’t played before?”

“We were tied until the boss got back,” Felix objected. “When I’m done teaching him all my special moves, we’ll be unstoppable.”

“You mean the moves you abandoned for the ones I showed you when the game turned toward my favor?”

“Get spaced, Max.”


	11. Chapter 11

Sylas laid back in his desk chair, letting his arms fall limp behind him as he tried to relax. It had been a week since he originally got the mission to try and get Sanjar to lower his bandwidth so Hiram could get Phineas’s information. 

Every day since has been either meetings with the heads of the current factions or searching the wilderness for some kind of sign that there was still a Board presence on Monarch for Sanjar. That alone took him and his crew to Fallbrook to talk to the SubLight head, Catherine Malin, who wanted something in exchange for outing a client. After an infiltration into the Boarst factory west of town and fudging financial records, they had their lead. 

One group of SubLight never came back from a supply drop. And so the hunt began.

It took nearly three days to track and search the wilds for the hidden UDL lab, even with the help of the last of the SubLight Crew and Nyoka’s knowledge of the terrain. But they had gotten the proof for Sanjars attempt to blackmail the Board into acquiescing to his wishes. 

At that point, Zora had messaged asking for some personal help, which sent them to a mantisaur infested relay station to investigate a code she had found on an old data cart of Graham’s. That took longer than they hoped, with Parvati getting blasted by the giant mantiqueen and the group needing to stay the night in the relay station. 

Sylas was exhausted. He tried to cycle out the crew when he could, but he didn’t get a break. His body ached and his mind was foggy from a mix of not getting enough sleep and over using his inhaler. 

At least the crew had finally settled into a routine with each other. Ellie, Max, and Felix had been keeping themselves busy with the lucrative raptidon musk trade while Nyoka swindled Byzantium visitors out of their bits when she was off. 

According to the reports in front of him, they were well into the green and they could pay for important parts of the Unreliable as well as have a rainy day fund established. It felt good. 

Sylas wished that he had more time to settle in with Felix on a personal level, but it seemed that they had either missed each other while catching sleep or were out in the middle of nowhere when they had to be on high alert. At least he and Max weren’t at each other’s throats anymore. 

A gentle tap came from the door to the room followed by a pair of footsteps up the stairs. Sylas used the tips of his feet to spin to face whoever came in. 

Felix popped his head around the corner before snorting and walking over to the chair. 

“You look dead, boss,” he said before leaning over and giving Sylas a peck on the lips. 

“I am dead,” Sylas replied. “And you just kissed a zombie. Gross.”

“A zombie?” 

“They don’t have zombies in Halcyon?” Sylas asked, standing up stiffly. “You know, the undead who out to eat your brains?” he continued before sticking his arms out, groaning, and slowly shuffling towards Felix. 

Felix, to his credit, was unfazed. 

“I think that’s an Earth thing, boss,” he replied with crossed arms. “The dead stay dead here.”

Sylas sighed and dropped the act. 

“I know. They stayed dead on Earth, too. It was a monster of folklore and stories.”

“Oh, like bats!” Felix connected with a nod and a grin.

“Bats are real. You might be thinking of vampires, but there are vampire bats.”

“Earth sounds like a crazy place,” Felix admitted, pulling Sylas close by the waist. “But I didn’t come in here to get a history lesson.”

“Good, because I didn’t teach history,” Sylas teased, draping his arms on Felix’s shoulders.

“Parvati and I were going to watch the latest Princess of Hephaestus episode and I thought you could use a break,” Felix continued with a small roll of his eyes. For someone who tried to be a tough guy all the time, he was pretty sweet when he wanted to be. “You have too many papers on your desk for it to be healthy.”

“We’re juggling a lot of tasks right now and I have to keep track of them somehow,” Sylas said with a shrug. “But yeah, mindless plot sounds really good right now.”

Sylas gently pulled away from Felix, but kept one hand in his as Felix led him upstairs. They earned a whistle as they passed Ellie’s room, but Sylas ignored it for the delight that showed on Parvati’s face as they two walked in together. She had a small screen set up in front of one of the couches, already bundled in a blanket as she sat on some pillows on the floor. 

“Yes!” Parvati said excitedly as Felix pulled him to the couch. “Do you want a recap of what happened last time?”

Sylas knew that it probably didn’t matter if he knew what happened last time, but she was so enthusiastic. 

“Sure, give me the rundown.”

While Parvati listed off the events of the most recent episodes, Felix half laid down with his arms open. Sylas sank down, laying his head on Felix’s chest without a second thought. Despite having just been lean muscle and bone when he joined the crew, consistent meals and plenty of rest really helped Felix fill out, even in just the month or so they’ve been travelling together. 

It helped that he was also a furnace, enveloping Sylas in warmth as he wrapped his arms around in an embrace. He wouldn’t be slipping into time dilation unintentionally.

Soon enough, the serial was playing and Sylas got lost between trying to be interested in the simple plot of the episode to drive the romance arc and the sound of Felix's heart beating into his ear. 

Parvati squeaked a few times when something particularly cute happened, bringing a smile to Sylas’s face. 

This felt right. He hadn’t had a whole lot of experience bonding with others outside of work or family when on Earth. He had too much to do back then between keeping a job and finishing school. 

But this was as close as he had to home since waking up in Halcyon. 

About three quarters of the way through, Sylas felt Felix start moving more, bringing a hand up to run through Sylas’s hair. 

Sylas gave a contented hum as he closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of pressure on his scalp and the goosebumps running down his neck. It didn’t take much longer for him to sink into sleep, his body tired from work and now in a safe place to rest. 

He’d ask Parvati how the episode ended in the morning.

  
  
  


It had been an hour since Max saw Parvati pass by, returning to her bedroom for the night. It had been late, but he had gotten caught up reviewing some of the base scriptures. They were comforting in their simplicity, allowing Max to extrapolate the reasoning behind them with his knowledge of more advanced texts. 

The door to Felix’s room was still open, revealing the untidy room within and the absence of Felix himself. 

Tonight was usually when he and Parvati watched the latest serials and he thought he heard Felix pass by with someone when Max was doing his daily meditation. 

He may have been in the captain’s quarters. 

A small pang of jealousy shot through him. He closed his book and started preparing for bed. 

These feelings didn’t seem to be going away with repression, no matter how much they didn’t align with his Path to solving the equation. 

What part of Felix being in the captain’s quarters bothered him?

Sylas was compassionate and intelligent. He could have been a highly esteemed professor had he grown up in Halcyon. They were back on good terms since the discussion over Chaney, even though Sylas hadn’t visited for a late night discussion since before then.

Sylas would have been the type Max pursued in seminary. Similar to the ones he had fleeting relations with during his younger years. 

The captain wasn’t much younger than he was anyway. What was ten years once you were out of your twenties?

So he was interested in the good captain. Something was bound to happen, with how friendly he could be and the fact that he was the reason Max was able to leave Edgewater behind. 

Max hadn’t checked in with his superiors in over a month, probably labeling him as dead because of the fate of the former cannery town. 

So, he was “free of his corporate shackles” as Felix would put it. Didn’t mean much since he would no longer have the benefits of being an OSI Vicar. 

Once they dealt with this hermit on Scylla and he had his translation, he would work to getting back into OSI’s good graces again. 

Assuming they even wanted his evidence from Bakonu’s book. Which, by the way things have been hidden from the masses, they might not. 

He would have the truth then and he would know true peace. He could save Halcyon through the Plan himself and everyone would be better for it. 

His thoughts wandered to Felix, full of pent up energy and the rebellious ideology to match. He wouldn’t know peace in the Plan.

How Sylas had wrangled that energy into something that could be used for the good of the people was beyond Max. Felix responded well enough to positive reinforcement, his eyes shining at the smallest of praise. And there must have been some subconscious drive for Felix to play nice to appease Sylas. Who knew how long after joining the crew that the young man’s pining started? 

If only more people following the plan had that kind of drive. 

Max brought himself out of his own thoughts, knowing that ruminating on the new couple did nothing to help his current situation. He would figure out his next steps after Scylla, and it wasn’t likely he would stay on the ship longer than required. 

The feelings would fade with time and distance.

Now only dressed in a sleeveless undershirt and boxers, he quietly made his way to the kitchen to refill his glass of water before retiring for the night. The lights were dim over the counters, but there was enough light to see into the darkened sitting area. 

He quickly filled his glass before hearing one of the couches creak. He looked over to see two forms bundled together, still asleep. 

Max hesitated, frozen in place. He saw the smaller form of Sylas, long hair fanning over his face, limbs tangled with the taller form of Felix, who’s head laid back limply on a pillow. 

They both looked peaceful, despite how uncomfortable it would be to have two people sleeping in a space barely big enough for one person to lay down on. It must have been the first real time they spent together in the last week, and it ended up with them asleep on a couch. 

They would regret it in the morning. 

Well, Sylas might. Felix seemed still young enough to not have to deal with the pains of getting older. 

Max returned to his room, leaving the glass of water on his desk for the morning. He couldn’t help but feel the pang of jealousy come back, but it was hard to say which he was jealous of. 

Was it even jealousy? It had to be. Felix was only tolerable on his best days, insufferable any other time. They had gotten onto better terms than when they first met, but butted heads just the same. 

He could handle his feelings until it was time to leave. Sylas was a friend he wouldn’t want to lose, but if it meant the end of humanity's suffering, it was worth stepping away from. 

The sentiment didn’t make falling asleep any easier. 

  
  


Felix woke as the pressure on the lower half of his body began to move. He grumbled, realizing he wasn’t curled up in his room. He blinked his eyes open, the lights in the room on but dimmed. A mop of purple hair draped over a bearded grin looked up at him. 

“Mornin’,” Sylas greeted before trying to maneuver off of him. 

Felix’s legs woke up slowly, just pins and needles before he actually could feel them again. His neck was sore from how he slept, but the shaded form of the boss made it worth it. 

“Morning,” Felix replied before rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “How’d you sleep, boss?”

“Fine,” Sylas replied as he stretched, accompanied by the distinct sound of joints popping. “Next time in an actual bed… We need bigger beds.’

Felix laughed quietly as he stood up and pulled Sylas to him by the waist, his thumbs dipping under Sylas's shirt to trace along his stomach. Sylas wasn’t thin by any means, but he could feel muscle underneath the give of skin. Sylas jumped slightly, but eased into the touch. 

“Wouldn’t mind a bigger bed,” Felix replied with a small smile, trying not to focus on the possibilities that one would offer. He needed to wait for Sylas, no matter how much he didn’t want to. His hands moved up as he kissed Sylas, soft and sleepily, his fingers trailing through the hair leading down from his navel to below his waistband. 

Sylas gave a soft hum, one of his hands resting on Felix’s shoulder as he pulled Felix closer. 

Footsteps came from the crew quarters, growing louder before stopping and turning back.

“Each of you has a room! The captain’s is huge!” Ellie yelled. “Use one instead of the only common room on the ship.”

Sylas pulled away, his face turning a bright red. 

“Sorry, Ellie!” he called after her before rubbing the back of his neck. “Shit.”

Felix laughed, taking Sylas’s hand with a shrug. 

“Bound to happen, boss,” Felix said. “It’s not a big ship.”

“Yeah, I know,” Sylas replied with a sigh. “I should respect the common areas. I’m the captain.”

“It’s your ship, so you should be able to do whatever you want on it.”

Sylas looked down and shook his head. 

“No, you all live here too. I should respect that.”

Felix rolled his eyes before pulling Sylas down the hallway to the crew quarters. He would overthink something as simple as kissing in his own ship. Felix took a turn into his room before sitting on his bed and pulling Sylas onto his lap. 

“Now Ellie can’t complain,” Felix said with a grin before kissing Sylas again. The amount that his life had grown for the better since Sylas came into it was so much more than he had dreamed when his ship came into port. They were actively working towards a revolution against the board and were making more bits than he ever thought he’d have. 

Things were good.

Sylas pulled back sooner than he would have liked. 

“We have places to be,” Sylas said, apologizing as he stood up. “We need to deliver info to Amber Heights. You wanna come along?”

Felix sighed and slumped back. He would much rather spend the time staying here seeing how far Sylas would let him go, but the boss had a mission.

“I always want to come watch your back, boss,” he answered, sitting up. “I’ll get ready.”

“Thank you,” Sylas breathed as he pressed a quick kiss on Felix’s forehead before heading across the hall to talk to Max.

Felix shut the door to his room to change, knowing that Sylas trusted the Vicar despite the board bootlicker not giving him any good reason to. Felix would keep an eye on Sylas’s back in case Max had any violent inklings now that things had calmed down after the scholar. 

At least he’d finally get to see Amber Heights. A few of Bryant’s sermons made it to Groundbreaker and he had good ideas even if he wasn’t the best at taking care of his people. That’s what Zora was there for, wasn’t it? 

One person couldn’t do everything.

Well, the boss probably could if he put his mind to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the later than normal update and shorter than normal chapter! I wanted to write some fluff and I've been super busy. We're picking back up with the main storyline next chapter! The zombie talk did fall at a good time since Halloween 2020 is tomorrow as of posting.


	12. Chapter 12

Max rolled his shoulder as their fight with a pack of raptidons right outside the southern Stellar Bay ruins closed. It wasn’t as relieving as it could have been due to his armor, but the metal was the only thing between his flesh and the acidic discharge that now coated most of the road they stood on. 

Felix had insisted on drop kicking one of the rapt hunters and now was nursing a bruised ass because of it. 

“You know, Mr.Millstone, I have only seen that maneuver work once on anything that you’ve tried it on with four legs or more,” Max commented, reloading his shotgun. “Have you considered actually using your firearm instead of running head first into danger?”

“Shooting them doesn’t look as cool as the Millstone special,” Felix retorted. “And anyway, we dealt with the pack and no one got really hurt.”

“This time,” Max replied. “If you insist on bludgeoning these predators, I could at least give you some pointers.”

“Yeah?” Felix scoffed. “Alright, let’s hear it.”

“When you’re punching, you cannot just punch with your arm. You must turn your upper body into it to generate any real force.”

“That sounds real complicated,” Felix replied with a slight grimace. “I think I’ll stick with the Millstone Special.”

Max rolled his eyes, knowing that the kid would not listen to him even if it meant he would be more effective.

“Max isn’t wrong, Felix,” Sylas said as he put his rifle back on his back. At least one of the two could see his wisdom. 

“C’mon, boss!”

“Look, let me show you,” Sylas replied, demonstrating the difference between the methods. 

Max kept an eye out during the impromptu lesson, just in case something would sneak up on them to claim the rapt corpses for themselves. 

Sylas had picked up what the disconnect was between him and Felix and breached the gap. Max was used to teaching through sermons, but Felix responded to a visual demonstration of the exact thing Max had explained. 

“Alright, maybe it wasn’t so complicated after all,” Felix admitted. “I still will kick a jackass square in the chest when needed. And rapts are definitely jackasses.”

Felix moved ahead to take point as Sylas rubbed his forehead in exasperation. 

“I’m surprised you got him to agree with me,” Max commented as they started moving again. 

“He’s not an idiot, Max,” Sylas defended, giving him a glare from the side. “Not everyone learns well from preaching.”

“I wasn’t preaching and I know he’s not an idiot.”

“Then start acting like it.”

“And how would you suggest I do that since you seem to know everything, Captain,” Max retorted as they continued to walk. It may have not been the best way to question a superior, but Sylas was a biased party at the moment when it came to Felix. 

“Well, maybe instead of just offering patronizing advice, actually demonstrate it,” Sylas argued. “I know you can.”

“And walking him through every little step would be any less patronizing how?” Max questioned. Felix already was biased against anything Max said because of his faith, so babying him would be of no use.

“If you keep acting like you’re better than everyone, then yeah, it would be,” Sylas responded. “Just… show him. Meet him where he’s at and go from there.”

Did he act like he was better than everyone?

It wasn’t his fault that he was the most experienced person on the crew.

But that wasn’t accurate. He was easily the oldest member of The Unreliable’s crew, but there were a plethora of subjects that he lacked adequate knowledge. 

“I’ll keep it in mind,” Max responded after a few moments. 

The roads were quieter this time compared to his last hike to Amber Heights. Maybe the Captains traipsing had scared off the wildlife and the marauders from the general area. It would be nice to just walk instead of getting into potentially deadly altercations every hour or so. 

The trio continued in the formation they had set, with Felix out ahead and Max and Sylas keeping up a few paces behind. The captain’s eyes didn’t wander far from the road this time, though he caught the former scientist studying a few of the fungal life forms as they passed. 

Felix occupied himself by keeping watch, announcing every so often that there was a bend in the turn, but at least he was somewhat quiet about it. 

“Can I ask you a question, Max?”

“Technically you already went ahead and did,” Max replied with a slight smirk, earning a frown from the Captain. He didn’t think there was any true disapproval behind the gesture though. “I am here to act as council for anyone on the crew, which includes you.”

“Who do you think would be the best to lead Monarch?”

That was quite the question, and by the guarded way Sylas held his face, one he had been considering for a while now. 

“If I had to choose one, it would be Zora,” Max admitted, remembering the intense focus the sawbones had for keeping her people safe and well taken care of. “She’s competent and more than willing to get done what needs to get done for the betterment of her people by whatever means necessary.”

“I’m surprised that you think an Iconoclast would be the best pick,” Sylas replied with a chuckle.

“Unlike Graham, she actually allows for proper debate on their ideas, which is refreshing for a Philosophist,” Max explained. “I do feel, as I did before, the two groups working together despite their philosophical differences would be the best for Monarch.”

Sylas gave a thoughtful hum, looking around as he contemplated his response. Max sunk a few glances, glad that they could speak like they did before Chaney. He had been initially interested in Sylas because he had been a rare outsider in Edgewater and stayed for the man’s intellect and willingness to discuss just about any topic. 

“I don’t think Graham would give up his position lightly, and he definitely wouldn’t work with Sanjar,” Sylas commented, his eyes returning to the road in front of them. “Sanjar would probably be willing, but I hope we can foster collaboration this time. Zora is pragmatic, I hope she can see reason.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

Sylas’s face darkened as he continued to keep a focused eye on their surroundings. 

“I wish I could tell you,” He said softly, his grip on his rifle tightening. “I don’t think I have it in me to deal with it if anything else happens.”

Max gave a nod, knowing that Sylas still carried the burden of dooming Edgewater to its end. He didn’t show it most of the time, either distracting himself or hiding behind needing to do what’s right. Max took a step closer and, with only slight hesitation, gave Sylas a gentle shoulder squeeze. 

This wasn’t the time for canned platitudes or something about it all being in the Plan. Sylas didn’t believe in the Plan, no matter how often he had told Max during their discussions that it would be easier if he did. 

“We’ll figure it out.”

  
  
  


Amber Heights didn’t have the allure it did when Felix first stepped in. It was a group of people who walked away from the easier life with the Board to live of their own will and profit from their own labor.

But knowing it was led by a man who allowed for the slaughter of a whole group of people, even if they were board shills? There were innocents in the town that night. Kids who didn’t even get the chance to make decisions for themselves on the right way to lead Halcyon and staff who were just there trying to make enough bits to survive.

Felix shook a little as he followed Sylas out the main gate. 

“Why aren’t we going to go deal with that two-timing coward now?” Felix asked once they were out of earshot. “We have proof of him aiding in the massacre. He should be given his dues!”

“I’m not saying he won’t,” Sylas replied in that tone that meant that Felix needed to calm down and that he had to be patient. He didn’t want to be patient! “Zora asked us to wait, that is what we will do. These are her people, not ours.”

Felix huffed, knowing that Sylas was right that they were the outsiders here. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t save the Iconoclasts from the snake that founded them. What was wrong with them playing the hero?

“They were supposed to be the ones who would change Halcyon for the better,” Felix replied, trying to let his anger peter out. “How can anyone so morally bankrupt lead a movement to transform the colony?”

“Some people make choices that end in horrible consequences that they didn’t foresee,” Sylas said, his voice getting softer. 

“He should have fucking known that pirates would have killed everyone! Or who was in that town to begin with before handing over the gate code!”

“No one is saying that what he did was a good thing,” Max interjected. Felix didn't need him being the mediator right now. 

“Then why aren’t we serving justice?”

“Because it’s not our justice to serve,” Sylas replied, looking back at Felix for a moment. “If Zora wants help, then we will help. Until then, _we_ will do nothing _._ ”

Sylas continued walking the trail to Fallbrook, Max following close behind. Felix didn’t move.

“You’d never do something like that, would you, Sy?” Felix asked, hesitation in his voice. He had it bad for this man, but the way Sy sounded like he was sticking up for Graham worried Felix. “You wouldn’t slaughter a whole community of innocents?”

Sylas’s shoulders tensed. Not a good sign. 

Sylas was the most self sacrificing guy he knew, and really liked him for it. What would have to happen to drive him to kill outside self defense?

Max’s reaction didn’t help either. The Vicar looked at Felix and then quickly looked away. There was something Felix didn’t know about. 

“I don’t know, Felix,” Sylas admitted, keeping his eyes on the road ahead of him. “I don’t know?”

Felix stopped just to stare at him. 

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Felix asked, his muscles taught. If Sylas was capable of something like that, he didn’t know if this whole thing would work out. 

Sylas was supposed to be one of the good guys.

Sylas took a deep breath before scanning the surroundings and turning to face Felix.

“When I landed in the Emerald Vale, I needed to find a power regulator to get the Unreliable into the air. Edgewater had one and so did the community of deserters in the abandoned Greenhouse. I had to choose one place to lose power so I could get the regulator and leave. I diverted power from Edgewater because they were already dying. I thought the people would just go join the deserters, but I was naive.”

Felix blinked, taking a step back. He probably would have done the same thing if he had been in Sylas shoes. It would have been a small blow, but any blow to the Board helped free the people of Halcyon.

“What happened?” Felix asked, knowing that he probably could guess just by the way Sylas stood slack shouldered in front of him.

“As I went into the generator of the Cannery, the leader threw his guards at me and Parvati.”

“But you two were alright when I first saw you on Groundbreaker, all things considered.”

“They won that fight, son,” Max explained in a quiet voice. It was odd to hear it come from the usually condescending ass.

“And we killed almost everyone in that place to get out,” Sylas finished. “So when I say ‘I don’t know?’ I mean I don’t know what will push me to do something like that again. I don’t want to if I can avoid it, but it seems the universe wants me to be the one who guides the fate of Halcyon.”

Sylas’s eyes looked wet as he turned away. He had the system on his shoulders and here Felix was expecting him to be absolutely perfect. 

Felix stepped forward and pulled Sylas into his chest. 

“I’m sorry. We’ll- I’ll be here to try and alleviate the pressure,” Felix said as Sylas melted into him as much as he could around both their armors.

“Agreed, Captain,” Max said, looking at the pair before scanning the surroundings again. “While I am sure this is cathartic for you, we may want to get back to Stellar Bay before we are found by creatures that do not care much for the innocence of the dead.”

Sylas pulled away, pulling himself together. 

“You’re right. We need to get going.”

  
  
  


The walk back to Stellar Bay was uneventful. The only thing that seemed to have found the raptidon bodies were some pterorays that they scared off easily enough. 

Sylas wished he didn’t have to explain out every detail of what happened to Edgewater, but Felix deserved to know. The fact that Graham had orchestrated the massacre at Amber Heights really threw Felix off his rhythm, but what Sylas had done didn’t seem to phase the man. 

That worried Sylas, probably more than it should have. Did he really not care that Sylas had killed so many otherwise innocent people in Edgewater or did he consider it self defence after a less than well thought out decision? If Sylas had to do something similar to save Felix, would he object to being saved? 

After everything, he really just wanted to go fall asleep after a nice shower. 

The shape of the Unreliable was a sight for sore eyes as they approached the landing pad and boarded the lift. 

ADA welcomed them back in her usual tone and Felix booked it to the bathroom. He had called it first and Max didn’t seem to care and Sylas didn’t have the emotional energy to argue. 

Sylas walked into his cabin and slowly stripped the armor off piece by piece. 

“Captain, would you care for some company?” 

Sylas turned to see Max standing at his doorway, already out of his armor, but without his usual vestments and his OSI phial in one hand and some glasses in the other. 

“I don’t think I could discuss your Plan well right now, Vicar.”

“I’m here as Max the -hopefully- friend, not the Vicar,” Max replied. “I threw out the whiskey bottle when I refilled this, otherwise I would have brought that instead.” 

“Isn’t that sacrilege or something?” Sylas asked.

“Keep it between us and it will be fine,” Max reassured, stepping into the room and taking it in. “I’m sorry about questioning you this morning. I should have trusted your training.”

Sylas flopped down on his bunk as Max poured them each a glass, handing him one before taking a seat in the desk chair. 

“It’s fine. I have to remind myself that teaching doesn’t come naturally to everyone.”

Sylas took a long sip of the whiskey, keeping himself from coughing as it burned down his throat. He had been feeling chilled, but this artificial warmth seemed to work just as well as actual heat. 

A potentially dangerous realization. 

“I’m sure you had a lot of training to become an instructor?”

“Some, more experience than training. My degrees are in biology and ecology, but I worked as a tutor and an aide during pretty much all my school years,” Sylas explained. 

“You had to work during your training? Was it not an assignment you were given?”

“Any education higher than basic training you had to pay for yourself. It meant more money later on and I got to choose the field I wanted to go into, but you definitely had to pay for it.”

Max nodded, sipping on his glass before replying. 

“Most people in Halcyon follow in the footsteps of their parents unless they excel on other aptitude tests.” 

“So you tested well on being a Vicar?”

“Well enough that I could talk my way into the program,” Max replied with a small shrug.

“So you can talk your way into _and_ out of things,” Sylas said with a nod. “Good to know.”

“To be fair, I have talked my way out of more things than I’ve talked myself into,” Max corrected. “A useful trick when I may have taken out too many of my frustrations on others during the seminary tossball games.”

“You letting your frustrations out on the court?” Sylas questioned with a slight smile. “I could see it.”

This was nice given the tension of the day. Just talking about things that didn’t really matter. Sylas had never been the kind for small talk on Earth, but with everything being important now, it was a solace. 

“Do you really consider me your friend?” Sylas asked, looking at his nearly empty glass. He couldn’t really blame the sudden deep question on the alcohol. He had only started drinking and he wasn’t that light of a weight. 

“I do,” Max said simply. “A new one, sure. But a mere coworker wouldn’t stop me from killing someone, so that has to mean something. Does it bother you?”

Sylas shook his head, letting the hand holding his glass rest in his lap. 

“Don’t got many- never have, to be honest,” he mused. “Most of them are likely dead.”

Sylas parents were surely dead and probably most of his extended family that he cared to keep in touch with. Friends he left behind on Earth too. Todd was the only one from his past that may come back into his life.

“Grieving is an important part of healing after a loss, and you have lost quite a lot in a short amount of time,” Max said sincerely. It was weird coming from the man who, only a month ago, gave him one-liners about the importance of work. “I know we have a timeline we need to follow, but not processing those feelings will only hurt in the long run.”

“I thought you weren’t here as a Vicar.”

Max gave a small chuckle and a shrug.

“I suppose you can never fully shed the mantle of your profession.”

“SHOWER’S OPEN!” Felix's voice called from the stairwell. 

Sylas nodded towards the door. 

“Elder’s first.”

“Then you should go. You’re over a hundred,” Max shot back with a smirk.

“Go take a shower, Max.”

Max stood and grabbed his phial with a nod before making his way out. 

“And thank you,” Sylas added as Max turned the corner to head down the steps out of his cabin. 

“Anytime, Captain.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Felix's dialogue with the Captain about Graham was the spark that, in addition to Unplanned Variables by kalema, got me writing this story and it's nice to have it finally make it out to you all. 
> 
> My upload schedule might also be slower during November because I am doing Nanowrimo. I will try to keep it close to the twice a week, but I will probably end up looking more like three times in two weeks.


	13. Chapter 13

‘It’s simple’ Hiram said. Just waltz outside to pull a lever and he would send Phineas his info and Nyoka’s request sent to the Unreliable. They could have finally moved on from this moon. 

But now it was mid afternoon as Sylas, Nyoka, and Ellie watched a ship crash into the cliffs across the large chasm north of Devil’s peak.

“That was one of the UDL gunships we saw on our way in,” Ellie said as the communication terminal burst to life in front of them. Sanjar and Graham came onto the line, only angering Hiram in the process. The gunship had a targeting module that both MSI and the Iconoclasts wanted for their own ends, and Hiram wanted them off his broadcasting frequency. Whether or not either of the two fighting factions were being inherently truthful, one thing was clear. 

If Sylas didn’t get the module first, the fight between MSI and the Iconoclasts would end in deaths. 

“This sounds like a whole lot of shit we shouldn’t meddle in, Cap,” Nyoka warned. 

Sylas didn’t respond right away to instead survey the area. Off to the West was what looked to be a settlement that crossed over the chasm and started a road on the other side. It would hypothetically lead them straight to the gunship. 

“What’s that town over there?” Sylas asked. 

“That’s Cascadia,” Nyoka said. “Abandoned Rizzo’s settlement over run by marauders.”

That was convenient. He had a Nav-key to that landing pad and a Sublight job located there. 

“I know that look, Captain,” Ellie warned. “You’re going to go put us in the middle of this fight, aren’t you?”

She wasn’t wrong. 

“That ship landed in the sulfur pits. It’s full of big ass rapts and mantiqueens,” Nyoka added.

Sylas had an idea. 

It would be close and ADA had to agree to both hover over a dangerous area and land in Cascadia, but if they hauled ass back to Fallbrook now, he had a good chance of beating both the MSI troops and Iconoclasts and getting away for long enough to negotiate a truce. 

“Let’s head back to Fallbrook,” Sylas said, taking the outer descent down the tower.

“We won’t make that in time boss, even if you start in Cascadia,” Nyoka said as the two women followed. 

“If I’m lucky, I won’t be starting in Cascadia.”

The trio spent the rest of the hike back to Fallbrook split between discussing the logistics of the plan Sylas wanted to perform and killing Mantiqueens, but they had arrived faster than planned. 

Nyoka would take lead on the extermination front on the landing pad side of Cascadia and would make sure the bridge doors were locked to keep out any marauders wanting to take on the ship that landed. Parvati would be of use there while Eliie stayed prepared in the ship for first aid. 

That meant Sylas, Max, and Felix were the extraction team getting dropped as close to the wreckage as possible and would fight their way to Cascadia after. 

“This is an insane plan, Cap,'' Ellie said as they rushed through Fallbrook's gates. “I’m down for it.”

“It’s better than taking on rapts below Devils Peak,” Nyoka agreed. “You think you boys will be okay taking on the sulfur pits alone?”

“We’ll find out.”

  
  
  


Felix paced on the edge of the Fallbrook landing pad, his heavy armor clanking with every step. 

“Mr. Millstone, prowling will not bring the Captain back to the ship any faster,” Max said from his spot leaning on the ramp to the airlock. At least he also put on his armor before coming out to lecture him on patience. 

“I can’t just wait inside when I don’t know where Sylas is!” Felix replied, glaring daggers at the older man. It wasn’t his partner possibly being a badass without him. Or Sy could be hurt. At least he took Ellie today. 

But going out to look for him was no better idea. What if Sy came back and Felix wasn’t there?!

“ADA received a transmission from the Information Broker saying that they were on their way back here from Devil’s peak,” Max replied in his even tone. “If Sylas was supposed to die to the Monarch wildlife, he would have done so already. He should be here any time now.”

That was more comforting than it should have been. 

Felix had been lounging by the river when the fireball that was once a ship passed overhead. Max and Parvati had heard the crash from inside the ship and they all began prepping for a quick flight out as soon as ADA received the transmission. They had no clue what sylas would want to do, but he’d probably get himself mixed in with the fight between Amber Heights and Stellar Bay. 

And they were here to support Sylas. 

“I wish he would get here already so we can get on with this.”

“I do as well,” Max replied. Felix raised an eyebrow and Max continued, “We can’t get off the ground without him and I don’t want to hike all the way over where that ship landed.”

Felix rolled his eyes as he looked back towards the main road through Fallbrook. Sylas hadn’t said anything about his talk with Max while Felix was showering, but Max had been acting weird lately. Maybe he was finally getting tired of being a dick. 

But this was Max. He would never get tired of being a dick. Maybe he was getting comfortable around Sylas. They were friends, which was fine with Felix. He didn’t get nearly as much sass from the Vicar when Sylas was around now. 

He honestly wasn’t too bad when he wasn’t shoving “the Plan” down your throat. 

Coming up past Malin’s House of Hospitality, Felix spotted the brightly colored hair of Nyoka and Sylas under the neon light of the signs as they rushed towards the landing pad.

Sylas made eye contact and put a finger in the air, making a spiral motion.

“Back on the ship!” Felix announced, putting his tossball stick on his shoulder and heading inside and the incoming group ascended the ramp up to the pad. Max followed close by and they waited on the bridge for their instructions. 

Finally, he would get to be a part of a big mission to help save Halcyon. 

Or at least a small part of Halcyon. 

“Is Sy back?” Parvati asked, coming down the steps as the door to the airlock opened, Sylas making a beeline toward the bridge. “Oh, I guess that answers that.”

“Are we gonna check out the wreck, boss?” Felix asked, following Sylas into navigation, followed by Max and Parvati. 

“Yep,” Sylas said simply, pulling up the map of the area and zooming in on a secluded road north of the chasm. “ADA, would you be able to drop us off here?”

“Captain, I don’t have clearance to land there,” ADA replied, her display showing the AI with a small frown. “And even if I could, that is highly dangerous territory.”

“You don’t need to land, just hover close enough to the ground for a few of us to jump out of the cargo hold and then you go land in Cascadia.”

Whatever Sylas had planned sounded way more fun than anything Felix had thought of. 

“Captain, may I remind you that Cascadia has been labeled as “EXTREMELY DANGEROUS” and is not safe to land in.”

“Yes, I am aware. Nyoka, Parvati and SAM will handle the dangerous creatures there while Max, Felix and I go grab the targeting module and meet up after.”

“Captain, is that really wise?” Max questioned. “Ships this size are not the best in close quarters flight.”

“Are you underestimating my piloting skills, Vicar Desoto?” ADA questioned. 

“It’s not a wise move, but not because ADA isn’t capable,” Sylas replied, finalizing his travel request in the navigation computer. “I’m trying to prevent an all out war here, so drastic times call for drastic measures.”

Felix couldn’t pull his eyes away from Sylas at that moment. Yesterday he had a breakdown and today he was leading a retrieval mission to mitigate political tension. 

If they made it out of this whole thing alive, Felix needed to make sure this got made into a serial.

“I’m with you the whole way, boss,” Felix said with a grin. “Lets get this fancy sight.”

“It’s a targeting module,” Max corrected.

“Which is just the sight for a ship gun,” Felix retorted.

“Can we not have this conversation right now?” Sylas asked, watching Fallbrook disappear as they took off. 

“I’ll go make sure SAM is ready to fight,” Parvati said, heading out and back up the staircase. 

“Thanks,” Sylas said as he looked to Felix and Max. “You ready?”

“Fuck yeah!” Felix replied, feeling himself already start getting antsy for a good fight. 

“While I never look forward to taking on the wildlife, this is for a good cause,” Max said in a more neutral tone. Felix could see him fighting a smirk though. “My knees will probably not enjoy the experience, though.”

So Max had some tension to get out himself, and them taking on Monarch together would be great. This area was well off the beaten path, so that meant even more things to practice his moves on. Adreno and Ellie could make up for any mishaps on the way.

“Felix and I could catch you if you want,” Sylas offered with a slight smirk.

Max choked for a moment before shaking his head. 

“I will manage, Captain,” Max got out before heading to the cargo bay.

He sure was acting weird, but it was Max’s problem, not Felix’s. 

The couple followed quickly as they passed by Devils peak. 

“You think we’ll make it in time?” Felix asked. “You don’t think we’ll run into the guards of either place?

“The quickest way here, save for flying over, is through the northern ruins and past the printing press,” Sylas said. “They wouldn’t get out there before midnight.”

“And we won’t get back to Cascadia before then,” Max added. “Assuming the targeting module is even still viable.”

“We can’t risk it being viable and one of the other groups getting it first.”

It made sense why Sylas was making such a big deal out of this. If he couldn’t stop this, his actions would be the reason why another community is wiped out. 

“And what do you plan to do when you have it?” Max asked.

“We’ll figure that out when we have the module.”

Max started to talk back, but the ship descended and the cargo door opened. 

“Please keep the Captain safe, Max and Felix,” ADA said over the intercom. 

“Always do,” Felix said before making the several foot jump onto the worn road below them. Sylas and Max followed before the door closed behind them and The Unreliable took off west to Cascadia. 

From just over the closest cliffs, a large plume of black smoke billowed into the purple sky as the sun set on the horizon. 

“That smoke’s gotta be coming from somewhere,” Felix said, taking point as Max fell in behind him and sylas taking the rear.

“Keep your focus on the road. The ship is bound to have attracted predators,” Max warned. 

It wasn’t long before Max was proven right as a pack of raptidons came prowling from the sulfur pits, led by a giant blue rapt that probably stood taller than anyone on the crew. 

“Get down and let me take out the spitters,” Sylas whispered from behind them accompanied by the sound of him readying his sniper rifle. 

The spitters sucked, and with them out of the way, he could go wail on the big one. 

Between Felix and Max, the rifle sounded off three shots in quick succession, much quicker than anyone without Sylas’s weird time slowing power could ever accomplish. It was always a little jarring knowing that was what was happening. 

Three of the smaller rapts were down, but the big one had locked in on them along with two hunters that were hidden in the grass. 

Felix rushed forward, charging head on with the giant rapt, and leaped. 

“HEY BOSS! WATCH THIS!” Felix yelled as he dove feet first right in the giant rapt’s face, thankfully hitting it in the eyes rather than landing in it’s mouth. The fall afterward was jarring, but worth it when Sylas called his name.

Wait, he sounded scared and not amazed.

The rapt shook itself off and peered down at him before roaring. 

“Fuck.”

Above him, the giant raptidon tensed in preparation to claw him to shreds. A blur passed and before he could register what was going on, Sylas straddled the back of the rapt as he with one of it’s fleshy whisker things in each hand. Sylas pulled back and to the side, guiding the rapts head away from Felix and towards a rock. 

“GET OUT OF THE WAY!” Sylas yelled, the rapt beginning to try to buck him off. 

Felix scrambled, picking up his minigun and mowing down one that had been coming up behind Max, who gave Felix a quick nod before turning his attention to Sylas’s predicament. 

Sylas had the whiskers coiled around each hand while he braced his thighs on the sides of the raptidon to hold himself just above the spines that ran along the center of the animal’s back. 

“The strong survive and the weak perish!” Max called, shooting his shotgun right from the hip and into the rapt’s face. As it slumped dead, Sylas was flipped forward onto his back with a loud thump and a wheeze. 

Felix was suddenly thankful for his armor covering his groin, because the blood definitely didn’t rush to his head at the sight of the two of them fighting to save him. 

  
  
  


Max did a quick sweep of the area as Sylas recovered, not wanting a repeat of this current situation. Once the area was clear, he returned to Sylas’s side, ignoring Felix standing dumb struck in front of them. 

“What the fuck was that?” Max questioned as he stood over the captain, taking a few deep breaths. 

“I panicked,” Sylas replied, rubbing the back of his head. “You okay, Felix?”

“Yep, super good,” Felix replied shortly. “Thanks, boss.”

“You were on that thing for at least 5 seconds,” Max continued. Not only was it an idiotic move, but he had succeeded to distract the creature long enough for Max to shoot it. 

“I rode a mechanical bull a few times,” Sylas said with a shrug, slowly standing up and securing his hat. “Plus I got to use both hands. I wouldn’t have lasted so long if I had to do it the old fashioned way.”

Max just stared at him, not sure if Sylas was pulling his leg or if this was just another custom that didn’t come over from Earth. 

“What’s a bull and what is the traditional way?” Felix asked, seemingly having gotten enough wherewithal back to join the conversation.

“A bull is like a wooly cow, but a male and usually really territorial,” Sylas explained, “And the traditional way it to get on, secure one hand, and then keep the other in the air while you hold on for dear life for 8 seconds.”

“Maybe it’s not so weird that tossball came from Earth if that was a common thing to do,” Felix said, looking impressed. 

Max wouldn’t say he was impressed by putting your life in the hands of a raging animal for sport, but he couldn’t lie that it would have been a hit had it been brought to Halcyon. 

“We should get moving before more come sniffing and my back tenses up,” Sylas said, walking ahead towards the sound of bubbling and the source of the smoke. 

Thankfully, the other raptidons that lived in the area hadn’t been drawn by the Unreliable landing and the trio was able to get to what was left of the ship unscathed. The front windows sat shattered on the ground, giving them easy entry inside.

Troops in UDL corporate armor lay motionless in the cockpit of the ship, having not survived either the heat of entry into the atmosphere or the actual crash itself. 

Either way, they wouldn’t be a hassle. Felix and Sylas scavenged what they could off the bodies as Max worked his way into the still operational computer. The screen was cracked, but he could make out what he needed to to open the doors deeper into the ship. There were also several logs from the captain talking about having issues with ordering parts needed for the older ship as well as a last farewell from the ship mechanic. 

“The ship was not maintained well and it overheated,” Max summarized when Sylas came to see what he had found. “But the back is open now. The module should be back there.”

Sylas nodded before he squeezed into the back of the ship and disappeared into the dim red of the emergency lighting. 

“These people were just left up there without help?” Felix asked, looking over the bodies at their feet. 

“It seems so,” Max confirmed. “The captain… Matsu was wanting to try to make the trip to Groundbreaker before the incident.”

“Just more people lost because the Board is a shit show.”

Max expected Felix to look triumphant that more corporate lackeys were killed, but he just looked somber. It wasn’t a look that Max was used to seeing on the young man’s face.

“I suppose so,” Max agreed before murmuring the saying of last rights over the bodies. Soon, they would be a meal for whatever crawled its way in here first. They would return to the dust they were born from. 

“Max?”

“Hmm?”

“After all these things you’ve seen, how can you still be a corporate Vicar?”

That was a tough question. Felix seemed to not be as shallow as he had originally guessed.

“There is a lot that I’ve seen in the last month that shows that what I had been taught was not all there was to know. I knew there was more out there, but, this is not what I had expected to find. The Plan is much more complicated than I had originally given it credit for.”

Felix digested the statement for a moment before nodding. 

“You still want to find out the Plan?”

“Of course,” Max replied curtly. “Once the plan is solved, we won’t have to worry about tragedies like this. This could be a part of the plan itself, we can’t know now. Once we figure out the mechanism, something like this could make sense in the greater scheme of the universe.”

“You actually believe these people dying because they couldn’t get the parts they needed would be a part of some plan that makes humanity better?”

When Felix phrased it like that, the Plan didn’t seem as strong as he had seen it could be. 

“I do,” Max replied. 

He could argue away the doubt when they weren’t out in the middle of nowhere. 

“Huh,” Felix replied before looking to the door behind Max. 

Sylas wormed his way out a large egg looking machinery in the crook of his elbow. 

“Let’s get out of here,” Sylas said, heading out of the ship. “I don’t want to keep the rest of the crew waiting.”

The walk to Cascadia was quiet with many of the large predators in their nests for the night, but that didn’t help Max’s internal argument. 

Everything had its place in the Plan. Otherwise the order OSI sought would have all been a farce. 

Max shook his head, knowing he was a fool for trying to see the plan in its entirety. He was just a small mind in the expanse of the universe. Those deaths had to fit somewhere. 

They had to.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Changed the rating to be safe.

Felix headed straight to his room once they made it back onto the ship, wanting to get his armor off as quickly as possible. After everything, the image of Sylas riding that raptidon to save him and Max finishing it off kept coming back to the front of his mind. 

And then his mind provided the fun scenarios where Sylas squirrels him away into the captains quarters to make sure for himself that Felix was okay. Making _sure_ the rapts didn’t dare scratch _his_ boyfriend.

Felix made sure the door was shut and locked before stripping down and flopping into his bed, cock aching before he hit the mattress. 

Had this been a different day and Sylas hadn’t spent most of the trip to Cascadia walking stiff like a board, Felix would have just retired to the captains quarters instead of his own and really showed the boss just how much he appreciated being saved. Showed the Sylas just how thankful he ws for everything he had done for Felix so far.

The thought of Sylas on top of him spring up, laying sloppy kisses along his neck and shoulders, murmurs of how much he needed Felix to be more careful. How much he needed Felix to be with him and safe.

Felix’s hand was on himself in an instant, pumping fast towards the release he had been wanting since the fight. 

Thoughts of Sylas moving down continued, taking Felix’s length in hand and making sure he felt good, encouraging him to hold on just a little longer… that it would be so good when he did. Felix’s hand slowed, making sure that he wouldn’t disappoint Sy with how much he just wanted to come undone. If Sylas only knew what he could do to Felix if he wanted to.

His thoughts shifted to Max, his eyes watching with a hunger he couldn't hide behind the several levels of restraint. Pressure built in his lower abdomen as his hand picked up speed once more, chasing his climax. 

‘We have to give him a good show,’ Sylas purred in his mind. 

And just like that, Felix tensed and grunted, come splattering on his chest as he tried to catch the breath he had been holding. 

He laid there for a moment, melting into the mattress and basking in the short afterglow. I was never as good by himself as with someone else there, but this would be good for now. Sylas wasn’t ready yet and Felix could wait. 

Felix would wait as long as he needed to for Sylas. 

Fuck, he had it that bad? 

And why had he thought of Max there? Sylas was more than enough for him, and they were already together. 

The older man looked good for his age. A cushy job as a Vicar would allow for that, even if he had a stint in prison. He kept himself up and his fucking one-liners before exploding his target’s guts with one shot were much hotter than it should have been. 

It wasn’t like he hadn’t slept with older people before. He had earned a couple bits or a free drink here when the jobs were slim doing just that. But fantasizing MAx being there when he was sleeping with Sylas?

He must have really needed to get off. 

Max didn’t seem to despise his guts anymore, but they were far from being friendly enough to be fuck buddies. He was still all high and mighty about the Law and wanted nothing more than to figure out his stupid equation. 

He had even said that innocent people dying had to fit somewhere. 

If anything was there, it would be a one and done deal when they were both desperate. And with Max leaving soon, he doubted they would end up in a scenario where they would get to that point unless there was some kind of rapt musk spill on the ship and they were the only ones there to deal with it.

He put that thought away quickly before he had to finish himself a second time. 

Felix sat up, picking up a dirty sock to clean himself off before throwing it into the pile of other clothes to get SAM to wash. He got dressed in a cleaner T-shirt and lounge pants before heading out into the mess to find Nyoka and Ellie drinking while listening to a serial.

“Ah, finally one of the boys comes out of their room,” Ellie said with a smirk. “I thought you all had a falling out again when everyone went to their rooms right when you got back.”

“Everything is good as far as I know,” Felix said. “The boss is probably resting since he rode a raptidon to get it away from me.”

“The cap’n rode a raptidon?” Nyoka asked in disbelief. 

“Oh yeah! It was awesome,” Felix said, grabbing a drink from the fridge before falling into a grand retelling of the encounter. It was great to be able to tell a cool monster story instead of Nyoka for once. 

“Of course you tried kicking it,” Ellie said with a roll of her eyes. “One of these days you’re going to break a leg doing that and I am going to laugh while setting the bones.”

“Make sense why the Cap has been quiet though,” Nyoka said with a nod before sipping her drink. “Rapts are all muscle. A smack like that should’ve knocked him out cold.”

“That’s the boss for you,” Felix cheered before taking a sip. 

If Sylas had really been resting, he may want company. Now that Felix had taken care of himself, he could spend the quality time Sylas preferred without the tension he wrestled with before.

Felix excused himself, heading out as he ignored the uptick of whispers as Ellie thought he was out of earshot.

  
  
  


Sylas couldn’t tell how long he had been lying in bed, curled up in a blanket while he watched the new messages notification blink on his computer. It hurt to move now that he had enough time to pay attention to the spasming muscles in his back. 

Sylas had been happy to see that The Unreliable made it safely to the northern side of Cascadia without issue and Nyoka and the others were able to clear it out. Raptidon bodies had littered the streets as they made their way to the landing pad.

They had successfully taken the one thing out of the equation that the Iconoclasts and MSI needed to start a war on the other for the time being. Now they were in low space orbit to keep those who would consider ambushing them in the night off the trail. It worked out well, all things considered.

But now he was alone with his body protesting his previous actions and three messages taunting him from the desk, the notification having taken noticeably longer to complete a flash in the last minute than the several before. 

It was about time to have another time dilation episode. He was tired and hurt, having just gotten on the ship close to 11pm after being chilled by cold winds in the canyons. His body felt heavy, unlike when he entered this state voluntarily. 

He was just as slow as the world around him and he didn’t know what to do. It would take forever for him to try and make it out into the stairwell, even though it would seem like he was moving at a lightning pace had anyone witnessed it. That was ignoring the fact that he felt like he had been in pain for nearly an hour, though the clock only said he had been laying there for fifteen minutes.

He would have fallen asleep and let time come back to him when it felt like it, but the extended bursts of pain kept him on the edge of oblivion. 

So he laid there, watching a blinking light and the stars beyond. 

Was this even worth it, getting beat up and bruised every few days for people he didn’t even know? Just so he could have his brother back?

The brother he always tried to make a good, easy path for. The brother who used that and launched himself into the scientific limelight while Sylas was stuck under the boulder of trying to help the rest of the upstart scientists get on their feet. The brother who never really acknowledged everything Sylas did for him. 

It wasn’t Todd’s fault that Sylas got stuck in the tar pit that was Earth's higher education system. Had they been born in Halcyon, they would have probably been researching some stupid product for Auntie Cleo's every day of their boring lives. 

At least now he was making a real difference in people’s lives. 

Or ending them.

Would Todd even understand what Sylas had gone through for him? All the things that had changed once the residents of the Hope were defrosted? The person who Sylas had to become to do everything he has done and will have to do?

Would he miss what they used to have or would he just embrace the new order?

The frown Sylas made took so long to form that he thought he was fighting back tears for a moment. 

Sylas wished his parents moved on after the loss of The Hope. That they could have lived out their last years enjoying themselves as much as they could, not grieving the loss of their only two children. Their extended family would have comforted them, and they would have soldiered on like they always did.

How long would he have to sit here alone with his thoughts before he passed out from exhaustion or the dilation ceased?

A noise came from the doorway. Was that what the door sounded like slowed down? Who was going to come in to find him like this: a pitiful man curled in a blanket as he lost his mind to itself?

He couldn’t understand what the voice that followed said, but it sounded like Felix. 

Shit.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, but he had just broke down in front of Felix the day before. Felix, no matter how much Sylas disliked it, had put him on a pedestal. And now that pedestal was being torn down piece by piece. It was probably better that it be torn down now and not later, when Felix was more attached. 

Maybe it would make their relationship better? Or Felix would pull out when he realized Sylas was not the man he thought he was. 

How long would it take for Felix to realize he was too much work to be worth it?

Felix made his way around the corner, a small curious grin on his face as he searched the room. His hair was mussed, the dark waves more separated than usual. Felix’s grin split across his face when he spotted Sylas in his bed, brown eyes visibly brightening. Sylas wished he could be happier to have the time to study his new partner in this detail, but the speed of the smile reminded him too much of the horror movies of Earth for the moment to be a good one.

Felix said something else, probably a comment on his current cocoon of cloth covering his whole body besides his face, but Sylas couldn’t speed it up in his mind to make anything intelligible. 

It seemed to take Felix a minute or two to realize something was wrong, but it was only probably thirty seconds in actual time. 

Another several minutes and Felix was at his side, his hand cradling Sylas cheek as his eyes scanned the current situation. 

“You’re freezing,” Felix drawled out as Sylas closed his eyes, trying to focus on the touch. The pressure on his skin was real and warm, like he should be.

And like that, time sped up, the sound of his quick breaths and the rumble of the engines filling his ears. 

“Sy, should I go get Ellie?” Felix asked, nearly getting up before Sylas grabbed his wrist and held his hand to his face.

“No, it’s fine,” Sylas breathed, wincing at the quick stabbing in his back as he moved that replaced the slow vices he had been enduring. “I’m fine now.”

“Okay, okay,” Felix consoled, returning to his side and settling in. “Panic attack?”

Right, that was what he had used as a stand in for whatever condition he really had. 

“Kinda.”

“Kinda?”

“Can you get me my inhaler?”

“You got it,” Felix said, softly, quickly scanning the room before leaving his side for a moment to grab the medical inhaler and loading it with adreno. Coming back, Felix gently held the mouthpiece up to Sylas and administered a dose. It would be enough to mitigate the worst of the tension. “That landing hit you harder than we thought.”

“Yeah, it did,” Sylas replied with a half hearted laugh. “Adrenalin is a hell of a drug.” 

“So?” Felix asked. “Max said you got panic attacks…”

“I’ve had panic attacks before,” Sylas explained, the pain receding enough for him to sit up, leaving room for Felix. “These aren’t panic attacks.”

“So, what are they then?” Felix asked, sitting next to him and pulling him close. 

“I don’t always have control of when I slow down time,” Sylas explained, leaning into Felix's touch. “Sometimes it just happens, but my body moves just as slow as everything else seems to be going.”

“Does it happen a lot?”

“Every couple of days or so,” Sylas replied. “It happens when I’m resting and if I get the slightest bit cold.”

“So that’s why your room is always so warm.”

“And why I bundle up,” he affirmed. Felix may not have been the sharpest mind, but he picked up on way more than he let on. 

“Did you actually grow up in a place hotter than Monarch?”

“I didn’t lie about that one,” Sylas said with a chuckle. “It was pretty much warm all year round.”

Felix nodded, taking a moment to settle himself in the corner of the bunk before extracting Sylas from his blanket cocoon and wrapping them up together. Sylas got himself comfortable, laying his head on Felix’s shoulder. He smelled slightly of sweat and dirt, probably not having taken a shower yet. 

“It sounds scary,” Felix murmured. “Being alone like that and not knowing when you’d snap out of it.”

Was it really scary to be stuck like that? The possibility of not coming out of it was terrifying, sure. Sylas didn’t want to think about having to spend the rest of his life like that, stuck in a prison of his own mind while the world crawled along around him. 

But just being stuck for a little while and then being broken out of it wasn’t too bad. Maybe life would start dragging on all the time like he read in the medical reports. 

“I’ll be fine,” Sylas replied eventually. 

“I know you will, boss. It doesn’t mean you should have to settle for just fine.”

“You’re going to start checking up on me more, aren’t you?”

“Not all the time,” Felix defended. “But hanging out with my boyfriend more isn’t such a bad deal.”

Sylas hummed at that. 

They were boyfriends. Or at least that’s what Felix labeled them as. They had only been together a week and only known each other for a month and a half. Anytime Sylas had tried to have a relationship before, he had known the person for much longer than he had known Felix. 

But he had also been through so much more with Felix than any of the people he dated on Earth. 

Sylas closed his eyes, not wanting to think about all the things they now needed to do. The danger they were constantly in on this mission. 

“You didn’t check your messages,” Felix said, looking out over the room.

The light was probably still blinking away. But he was curled around someone comforting and warm right now. 

“They can wait until the morning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I don't really write a lot of explicit sexual stuff, but I wanted to try it as a part of this project, so any comments and constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated. I'm ace, so I have found writing from an allosexual point of view is much more difficult than I thought.


	15. Chapter 15

Max left his room at the time he usually did every morning to go make tea and enjoy the quiet of the sip while he could. What caught him off guard was Felix’s door already being open, leading to an unoccupied room, and the smell of fresh tea in the air. He walked down to the kitchen to find Sylas sitting at the table, staring into his cup. 

Unlike the last time he had found him in a similar position, Sylas looked up as Max entered. 

“Morning,” Sylas greeted quietly as Max fetched his mug and poured himself a serving. “Do you always get up this early?”

“The early pteroray gets the worm,” Max replied, sitting down across from the Captain. “You, on the other hand, do not get up this early. What is the worm you need to get today?”

“Both Sanjar and Graham want me to give them the module,” Sylas said with a shrug. But they knew that was going to occur already. “Zora wants to talk in private.”

So the sawbones made her decision and wanted to run it by Sylas. 

“You know where I stand.”

Sylas nodded, his eyes trained on the tea in his cup. 

“I’m afraid Graham won’t go quietly,” Sylas admitted. 

With how he had nearly defended the spiritual leader of the Iconoclasts before, Max wasn’t surprised Sylas worried about the possibility of killing Graham. It didn’t mean that the anxiety was well founded. Zora would most likely be there as well as those Sylas decided to take with him. 

He would be in no danger. 

But then again, Max knew Sylas’s personal safety wasn’t the source of the worry.

He saw himself in Graham, a potential endpoint he could easily become after this mission of his came to a close. 

“You admit to your guilt even as you try to make reparations.” Max stated. “Graham hid his in obscurity. I do not think that you are in danger of emulating him.”

There wasn’t a point to dance around the problem.

“I don’t want him to die when he could still help his people, even if it would be in a reduced capacity.”

“But the reduced capacity would not be enough to make up for the sins he has committed, would it?” Max asked, knowing this was not the real conversation they were having. 

Sylas dwelled on his wrongdoing, just as Max presumed Graham did. They were similar, trying to save people to make up for the innocents they had killed, in defense or not. If Sylas couldn’t move on, Max would be more worried about how much of his current mission was for the betterment of Halcyon or if it, too, was just to feed the guilt. 

“I don’t know if he could move on.”

“And his ability to move on isn’t your dilemma to solve,” Max replied in an even tone. 

Sylas took a deep breath and nodded. 

“I know I’ve been dragging you across this moon every other day, but would you be willing to come along?” Sylas asked, clutching his mug tighter.

“It is what you pay me for.”

“This is different,” Syals said with a shake of his head. “You didn’t get back until like midnight last night. If you don’t want to come with me, I will honor your decision.”

Max looked at Sylas for a long moment. He had never really dealt with an employer like him before. OSI had really been the only one providing employment during Max’s last few decades of being a vicar. He knew this was Sylas making an exception to his previous rule given the circumstances of the night before. 

Max wondered how much longer Sylas would continue to be this considerate before Halcyon broke him. That was the more likely option, because thinking the man sitting in front of him breaking Halcyon was nearly impossible and not worth considering. 

Sylas worried about being good enough to lead despite doing a decent job of it since leaving the Vale. The corporate culture in the colony would eat him alive in time. 

It would be a tragedy.

“As long as you don’t try to ride a Mantisaur on this excursion,” Max replied with a small smirk. 

The short laugh that came out of the Captain was enough to make his protesting knees worth it. 

“I can’t guarantee I won’t, but I will do my best,” Sylas replied. 

Max decided that if he could keep that light in the captain bright for a bit longer than it would have been otherwise, it would have been worth it. It was too powerful of a force for the Plan not utilize it. 

  
  
  
  


“I’ve seen you limping a bit,” Parvati said as they approached the top of the hill that led to Amber Heights. “You all right, Mr. Vicar? Need us to slow down?”

“What are you implying?” Max retorted. “I’m perfectly fit! My -uh- knee is just acting up.”

“There’s no shame in bein’ older, Mr.Vicar,” Parvati replied. “Don’t worry, Sylas and I will take care of you.”

“I need neither your advice, nor your pity, young lady.”

Sylas fought the urge to laugh at Parvati trying to be nice while Max was cranky, but it helped alleviate the guilt he had been feeling for asking Max to come along on this trip. They had landed in Fallbrook early in the morning and he had left Nyoka and Felix to guard the ship in case anyone tried to grab the targeting module while he had been out on his diplomatic mission.

Parvati was right though, there was no shame in being older. With how stiff Sylas was feeling on this walk, he couldn’t imagine how sore Max was. Parvati might have to take care of the both of them by the end of the day. 

At least the walk to Amber Heights felt shorter every time they took it. 

Standing at the guard post before the gate into the Heights proper was Zora, a lit cigarette tucked between two fingers as if she had just took a hit. 

Sylas gave her a nod when she spotted the group, snuffing the ember on a nearby rock. 

“Glad you are willing to chat, Captain,” she said, looking more tired than usual. 

“I’m always willing to chat unless you’ve got a gun pointed at my head,” Sylas replied with a shrug. “So, what’s your plan?”

“Graham’s got the right idea, but he isn’t the right guy to execute it,” Zora said in a low tone. “I don’t even think he’s motivated by Philosophism anymore. I think he’s just… guilt-ridden.”

Graham’s lack of motivation by their religion didn’t bother Sylas as much as it seemed to bother Zora, but he wouldn’t say it. Just because he didn’t agree with Max’s Scientism didn’t mean he totally agreed with the Philosophist ideology either. It didn’t matter if the universe was a machine or tried to learn as it went if people still suffered more than could be prevented. Period.

“So we ask Graham to step down?” Sylas asked, feeling the anxious tension coming from Parvati behind him. She had a good heart and he needed her council as much as Max’s in this endeavor.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Zora said, glancing back at the gate before nodding. “I keep going over and over it in my head and I can’t see any other way of the Iconoclasts surviving this.” 

“Your people listen to you already,” Max commented. 

“I’ve got your back in this on one condition,” Sylas continued, feeling his stomach tighten as he tried to stand strong. He had to make this demand if he was to make sure the most people made it out of this altercation alive. 

Zora’s eyes narrowed as she tilted her head slightly, urging him to continue. 

“Work with Sanjar instead of attacking the city. The two of you are stronger together than separate and with his resources, you can get your message out faster while keeping your people alive.”

Zora blinked, shaking her head in confusion.

“Work with MSI?” she questioned before mulling over fully. “You are not wrong about the resources, but what makes you think Sanjar would work with us?” 

“I’ll make him see reason,” Sylas explained. “It will be more convincing if you are already willing to do so.”

“Graham would never even consider it, but it may just be what the Iconoclasts need,” Zora said with a nod. “Alright, back me here and I would be willing to meet with Sanjar if he does the same.”

Sylas held out a hand to her to shake, which she accepted. 

They were doing this. The first of many steps towards peace was taken and now he had to just keep walking.

Zora made her way to the gate when he looked back to his companions. Parvati gave him a nervous thumbs up while Max just nodded slightly. He’d take it as a good sign. 

He had only gone up the stairs in the saloon a few times, and usually spent a longer time on the second floor than he had originally expected. He knew this would either be drawn out or too quick. 

Graham stood when he heard them climb the stairs. 

“Captain, you must have brought us the module we need,” he said, looking more hopeful that Sylas would have preferred. They were going to dash those hopes quickly.

“Graham, we need to talk,” Zora said, taking a step forward. 

“This isn’t time for one of our spats,” Graham replied with a frown. “We have work to do now that the Captain is completely on our side.”

“It’s time for the Iconoclasts to take their next step,” Sylas replied. “And It’s time for you to stand down. Zora is taking over.”

“What?” Graham asked, his amber eyes moving from Sylas to Zora. “Zora?”

“You’re running the Iconoclasts into the ground and I don’t believe it’ll get better even if we take Stellar Bay,” Zora laid out. “The troops take orders from me already. And you’ve- you’ve brought me as far as you can down the Eternal path. It’s time.”

Sylas hated how close their wording was to the one he used to believe he was on back on Earth. A path to becoming perfect was within reach, only if you made the right choices. 

“The troops? Listen to you,” Graham scoffed. “This isn’t an army. They aren’t soldiers. They're believers. Followers. They pick up a gun because you tell them to, not because they want to.”

“Are you delusional?” Sylas asked, anger flaring up as he took a step forward. “You both were wanting to go take Stellar Bay in a fucking crusade! Those people out there take up the gun to fucking survive! And from the things you’ve focused on, aren’t helping them minimize the amount of violence they see!”

Sylas could feel the shit-eating grin from Max from over his shoulder, but Graham was now just focused on him.

"No, you are the delusional one to throw in behind this mutinous blasphemer after everything you’ve done for me. For us.”

“Blasphemer?!” Sylas questioned with a roll of his eyes. “Your religion is just a different flavor of batshit crazy as OSI’s. I’m trying to keep the followers you have alive, which Zora has been doing while you live in your fantasy world of everything needing to be experienced so the Universe or whatever can learn about itself. You want to take over a whole planet, but you can’t handle the responsibility of that many lives.”

“I’ve built this movement from the ground up! I’ve brought freedom to Monarch, and all these years later, we’re still free,” Graham shot back. 

“I joined because I believed that you were in it for the Iconoclasts. That you wanted nothing more than to bring freedom to Halcyon. That you were selfless,” Zora stepped in. “But I know the truth now, Graham. I know what happened in Amber Heights. You didn’t start this movement because you wanted to save us. You wanted to save yourself.”

Graham’s eyes widened in shock, looking between Zora and Sylas. 

“Those deaths are on your hands, Graham,” Sylas added, knowing that his hands were just as bloodstained. “No amount of meditating will clean them. But we can move forward to a better tomorrow without more bloodshed.”

“I spent years atoning for my sins! I studied. I meditated. Thought. I built the Iconoclasts so that any man could cast away his past for a fresh start,” Graham shot back.

“That’s your answer, Graham?!” Zora tore into him before Sylas could reply. “You needed a fresh start? After all those innocent lives?” She shook her head in disbelief. “I’m sorry. I believed in you once. I did. But it’s over. Stand down.”

“I won’t. What happened back then was a mistake and the colony has moved on,” Graham retorted. “This is _my_ movement. These are _my_ people. If you want to lead them, you’ll have to kill me.”

Sylas heard the movement of metal being brought out behind him and he put a hand up to halt whoever was getting prepared for a shootout. 

“I’ve made mistakes, too, Graham. Don’t make this a mistake that ends in your death,” Sylas said in a forced even tone. “It would be a waste of someone these people look up to.”

“If this is where my path ends, I accept it,” Graham sneered. “But as long as I draw breath, I will not abandon them.”

Sylas watched Graham’s hand move towards the gun on his belt before taking a sharp breath and initiating time dilation. If Graham wanted to die, then he would get his wish, but Sylas wouldn’t make Zora execute her spiritual guide. 

Sylas drew his pistol and shot Graham in the chest and the forehead before time sped back up around him. Graham’s body slumped to the floor as blood began to pool before any of the others drew their weapons. He heard Zora take in a deep breath before he turned to her.

“I’m sorry,” he tried to console. 

“I’ve killed a lot of people in the name of the Iconoclasts and it’s never felt right,” she said, her eyes glancing at Graham's body. “But this seems especially wrong. You do have the device, right? From the ship?”

“I do.”

“Then go talk to Sanjar and let me know what he says. We’ll be preparing for the attack on Stellar Bay in the meantime,” She replied. 

“Alright,” Sylas said a respectful nod. “Let’s go,” he added to Max and Parvati. 

The walk out of the gates was tense, people rushing past to see what the gunshots were. But they had already started their journey back to Stellar Bay.

“You alright, Sy?” Parvati asked as soon as Amber Heights was out of view. 

“I'm fine,” Sylas replied. He would have hurt Max or Parvati or Zora if he hadn't stepped in. His action's made Graham's death a swift one while keeping his people safe. “I’m sorry you had to watch.”

“We were there to support you, Captain,” Max assured. “I know it doesn’t mean much, but I think you did the best you could have. Better Graham then all of Stellar Bay.”

“That’s not settled yet, but your optimism is noted, Vicar.”

  
  
  


Felix was relieved when ADA took off out of Fallbrook to Stellar Bay. Sitting in the hold preparing to be boarded at any moment grew boring after the first few hours. He got to spend a lot of time listening to Ellie and Nyoka practice shooting in the cargo bay and trade stories, but eventually he took point outside. But now they were landing in Stellar Bay, which didn’t look like it was getting ransacked by the Iconoclasts, so Sylas must have made some kind of deal with Zora. 

He stood waiting in the airlock as Nyoka and Ellie smuggled Ellie’s mannequin back up to her room when the door opened to a grumpy looking Sylas and a tired pair of Parvati and Max. 

“Captain, can we remind the crew that the cargo hold is not a shooting range?” ADA asked. 

“Feel free, ADA,” Sylas replied, giving Felix a small smile before pecking him on the cheek and heading upstairs. 

Parvati beamed at him after, causing Felix to blush a little. 

“How’d it go?”

“Graham didn’t go down without a fight, but Sylas made it quick,” Parvati replied with a sad shrug. “Sanjar is willing to consider working with Zora, but he wants some kind of report from Cascadia first, so we are going to go do that Sublight job tomorrow.”

While it was kinda sad to hear Graham didn’t make it out alive, he was also a coward who caused the deaths of a lot of innocent people. So it evened out. 

“Nyoka said that there are a lot of marauders in Cascadia, the boss isn’t going to try and sneak in, is he?” Felix asked, following Parvati to her room. 

“I don’t think so,” Parvati said with a shrug. “He said something about bringing everyone except Ellie and Max in to deal with the Marauders and then taking the other two down into the actual lab to extract the gas. Zora’s file should be somewhere in the lab.”

A shiver of anticipation went down Felix’s spine. The whole crew was going to play a part in the Sublight job? He couldn’t wait. 

“How are you and Sy, anyay? You didn’t sleep in your bunk last night,” Parvati asked with a small smile. “Did you two…”

Felix raised an eyebrow before shaking his head.

“Nah, Sy was in no shape for sex,” Felix said with a shrug. “We just cuddled.”

“I’m glad you two found each other,” Parvati said in that genuine way she always talked. “It’s good for both of you. You don’t fight as much with everyone now.”

“Hey, I don’t start fights, I just finish them,” he defended. In a quieter voice, he continued, “Plus Max is not being as much of a prick all the time.”

“He was pretty grumpy today,” Parvati replied as she took off her outer armor. “But I think he was just tired and in pain from having to go back out after last night.”

Felix frowned. Max hadn’t gotten hit last night, especially not as hard as Sylas did and Sylas didn't seem to be too testy. 

“I dunno why Sy took Max anyway. Nyoka is closer with the Iconoclasts…”

“Max calms his nerves, I think,” Parvati said, getting out her cleaning kit. “He didn’t seem too sure of himself while dealing with Zora and Graham until Graham got really defensive. I couldn’t do what he did.”

Well, yeah, of course Parvati couldn’t. The boss was the boss for a reason. But Max being a calming force for anyone?

Max was really good with words, so maybe that gave Sy some reassurance. It would have to do something for him to make Max go with him after the late night mission the evening before. 

“You going to move into Sylas’s room?”

Felix blinked, getting pulled out of his thoughts. 

“I- uh- I don’t know,” Felix said with a shrug. “We’re not sleeping together yet, so I don’t know…”

“You slept together last night…”

“You know what I mean,” Felix said with a roll of his eyes. “The physical stuff. Plus his bed isn’t any bigger than ours, so it’s a tight fit.”

“Whatever works for you two,” she said with a small shrug. “I’m just happy that I’m not the only one in a relationship anymore…”

"You and Junlei haven’t even gone on a date yet!”

“Neither have you!”

“But the boss is around all the time. We haven’t been back to Groundbreaker in weeks.”

“And we don’t need to be around each other all the time for it to flourish.”

She had a point there. Would Sylas and him have gotten so close had they not been living almost on top of each other? Probably not. 

“Maybe we could do one of those double date things like on the serials,” Felix suggested. It could be nice, especially to have friends around. Hell, going to the Lost Hope with the whole crew was an exciting thought. Finally show the people he used to work with that he made it. He found a ship. He found someone who wanted him for him, not just for what he could do for them. 

Parvati excused herself to head to the shower and Felix retired to his room.

So Sy had a closer friendship with Max than he thought? His mind went back to his fantasy, of Max watching approvingly as Sylas took care of him. 

It didn't mean anything. Just a weird detail his aroused brain came up with. 

Max was still a corporate tool, just a more likeable one now.


	16. Chapter 16

Max stood next to Ellie as they waited on the bridge passing over the large chasm that separated the Cascadia landing pad from the rest of the ruin. The rest of The Unreliable’s crew had gone ahead to clear out Cascadia proper. He could see where Sylas and Parvati took point on the walls to each side of the gate to the bridge while SAM, Felix, and Nyoka pushed in on ground level. 

“I’m glad I’m not on extermination duty,” Ellie said, loading her pistol. 

“There is a mantisaur nest in the lab, Dr.Fenhill,” Max reminded her. She would be there to hopefully get into the computer systems to flush out the mantisaurs without an actual firefight while he would be the one to safely move the combustive gas to the ship’s empty tanks. 

“Yeah, but those are confined in one room,” Ellie replied. “That’s a town full of marauders. It might have been faster just to sneak in…”

“Sylas probably wanted to salvage the town of what it’s worth.”

“Oh, fair point. I doubt those assholes knew what a goldmine they struck.”

"Indeed.”

“So Nyoka said you have a habit of making eyes at the Captain,” Ellie asked as gunshots rang out ahead of them. “Do you have a thing for him or do you just like watching the view?”

Max rolled his eyes. Of course the wannabe pirate would nose her way into everyone’s personal affairs. However, the knowledge that Nyoka was as perceptive as he originally suspected, despite nearly constant drunkenness, was something he would save fot later. 

“I don’t see how it’s any of your fucking business.”

“Ooooh, Vicky’s got a little crush,” Ellie sang sung, elbowing him slightly. “Too bad Felix got him first, huh? The captain is actually your age.”

Max closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It would be better if he didn’t give into Ellie’s jibes, no matter how much the fact that an object of his slight affection was already taken by another. 

Maybe her getting eaten by a Manistaur was in The Plan? 

He would only be so lucky.

“Technically, the Captain is old enough to be my father,” Max replied, not commenting on the earlier portion of her statement. “However, cryostasis stops one from aging for the most part, so he is still my biological ten years junior.”

“You’re no fun Max,” Ellie said with a huff. “You don’t look like you’re in your forties.”

“I suspect my time as penitentiary Vicar may have accelerated my greying hair.”

“I forgot you were an ex-con, Max!” 

“Technically I was a priest, not a prisoner.”

The statement was correct. He was one of the assigned Vicars for Tartarus, but that wasn’t much better than being an inmate. 

“Oh, so you could leave whenever you wanted,” Ellie presumed. 

“No, I had my duties to fulfill first.”

“Then you had a sentence.”

“Not exactly,” Max replied. “Vicars don’t get much say in where they are assigned and reassignment paperwork can take time to process.”

Ellie smirked at him. She wasn’t stupid, she knew he was shrouding the truth in a facade of corporate jargon. He wasn’t lying, but he had practically been a prisoner. 

"Got any interesting prison stories?” She asked, excited to hear the answer. “Do people really trade cigarettes like bits?”

“No,” Max deadpanned. “You watch too many aetherwave dramas.”

The space between gunshots grew longer. 

“Fine, got any recipes for bathtub hootch? I’ve always wanted to try the real stuff.”

“We didn’t have bathtubs. We made it in toilets.”

Off in the distance he could see Sylas waving them in. Cascadia was now free of muraders for the time being.

He quietly thanked the Law and moved ahead, hoping that the line of questioning would stop for the foreseeable future. 

  
  
  
  


Cascadia was small enough that Sylas could make a good mental map of the area. The crew would go through the buildings, clear out any stragglers and pretty much grab anything worth bits as the lab group went and started the extraction of the Alta-vitae gas from the Auntie Cleo’s lab tanks. 

He entered the main lab headquarters before scouring the computers there while Ellie and Max picked up a few items. With the password from Catherine, Sylas unlocked the elevator down into the main lab and downloaded Zora’s work file with ease. 

“So, is she as qualified as you think she is, Cap?” Ellie asked, stashing some ammo into her bag.

“Good remarks overall,” Sylas replied, taking a glance at the report. “I know she’s competent, I just hope this meets Sanjar’s expectations.”

“I’m sure he will be reasonable,” Max said, taking a look over the elevator down. “He will also be butthurt because she is more capable than he is.”

Sylas laughed, knowing that Sanjar was sensitive about how he performed on the company assessments, but this wasn’t the time to worry about reviews. They had a moon to keep alive. 

“Shall we head down?” Ellie asked, taking Max’ side.

Sylas nodded and followed them into the elevator and descended. The lab was quiet, the dust having settled long before they had ever got the job to come down here. 

“Watch out, sentry mechanicals ahead,” Max whispered, pointing to the window leading into the next room. 

Great.

Sylas looked out at the other doors, which were either barred, powered down, or full of debris. They had to go through the room with the mechanicals. 

“Be ready,” Sylas warned as he opened the door. 

“Proximity alert!” One of the mechanicals said, it’s head turning to face them. “Biology: human. Protocol: Kill all mants suspended. Present your Rizzo identification credentials or prepare to be downsized.”

“We left our identification on the ship,” Sylas lied. “We are contractors of Rizzo’s to deal with the Mantisaurs.”

The automechanical processed that for a moment. 

“Masquerading as a contract worker is a arrestable offense under Board law,” the automechanical warned. “Priming weapons…”

Sylas frowned, moving to pull out his pistol when Ellie stepped forward. 

“Authorization code ‘Antediluvian’.”

“Executive level password accepted as contract authorization,” The mechanical replied, it’s weapon returning to its side. “Be advised, mantisaur threat level is ‘Petrifying Purpleberry.’ Please use caution. Mantisaur wounds are not covered under Rizzo’s health policy.”

Sylas gave the robot a nod before mouthing “Thank you” to Ellie. They continued through the room, the mechanicals having gone back to guarding a door deeper into the facility. 

Passing through the side door labeled Communications, they found a terminal to patch ADA into the lab’s system. 

“Hello, Captain,” ADA said from a side panel. “Now all you need to do is connect the storage tanks to my fueling system and authorize the transfer from a terminal inside the lab.”

“You got it,” Sylas replied. 

As they continued deeper they found more and more corpses of Mantisuars and the occasional remains of an automechanical. What he didn’t expect were the mines dotted throughout the hallways. 

“Fuck, another one? Why’d they never come back for this stuff?” Sylas asked as he detonated another mine by shooting it. 

“I believe it is illegal for any corporate entity besides MSI to be on Monarch, so they protected their property as well as they could have, given the circumstances,” Max explained as they passed a wall of windows into a lab. Inside, several mantisaur drones and mantipillars crawled around. “That is a lot of insects.”

“Well, Catherine did say there was an infestation…” Sylas said with a slight frown. The glass must have been one way since they weren’t actively trying to attack them. 

“This place should have some kind of life support room since it’s underground,” Ellie said, moving to look at a partially broken map of the facility. “If I can get access to the ventilation system, I might be able to suffocate them without killing us in the process.”

“Insects that big would need a higher amount of oxygen to survive,” Sylas agreed before they continued to explore around the infestation. After killing some rogue automechanicals and running through steam, they found the life support terminal. 

“Jackpot!” Ellie said before getting to work. 

“You doing alright, Max?” Sylas asked, thinking of his conversation with Parvati the day before. 

“I’m feeling fine, Captain,” Max said with a shrug. “The hard part is yet to come, however. I only have to safely transfer a highly combustible and genetically reactive gas form the tanks in this building into the Unreliable, where they will be stored until we make the journey back to Groundbreaker. Just another day, I suppose.”

“Thank you for coming along, “ Sylas replied, genuinely grateful for everything that Max had been doing. “I know you were probably not expecting to be breaking into hidden labs every other week when you signed on with me.”

“No, I didn’t,” Max admitted, but then gave a slight smile. “It sure keeps me on my toes.”

“And there we go,” Ellie said as the vents whirred to life. “Give the mants a few minutes to die off and then we will be safe to do other dangerous things. Let me know if I need to find you some supplemental oxygen, old man,” she teased, elbowing Sylas as she passed by. 

Max gave a slight chuckle and a shrug before following, leaving Sylas confused. Ellie hadn’t called him that before? Was it an inside joke between coworkers? 

Sylas decided to let them have their fun and he followed, making their way back to the windowed room which was now filled with the mantisaurs slumped on the ground. The larger ones didn’t move at all while the mantipillars twitched. Sylas felt bad to send the creatures to a slow death, but they would have been killed either way. This kept his people safer. 

Up a ladder sat a terminal as well as what looked to be the tanks of the Alta-Vitae gas. Sylas quickly logged in, finding a command to connect The Unreliable to the fueling system in the lab. Once that was finished, he quickly peeked at the logs kept on the computer. Most of the data had been removed, but some documents from an “E. Chartrand” were still present. Just complaints about the animal studies not working for their project. What caught his eye was that Chartrand was displeased with having to use Cisty pigs for a test animal instead of something like fruit flies. 

“Hey Ellie, you had to read research papers in medical school, right?” Sylas asked, downloading the file on his personal data cart.

“Yeah, why?”

“What is the model organism that researchers out here use for clinical trials?”

“Cysty Pigs most of time,” Ellie replied with a frown. “Not many other animals out here that didn’t start on the planets in Halcyon. Why?”

“This lab wasn’t used by Rizzo’s,” Sylas explained. “It was rented out for what sounds like the beginning stages of some kind of medical research…”

“Weird, but it explains why there's all the Alta-vitae gas,” Max replied, looking at the tanks. “It’s highly oxidative and an efficient mutagen. A classmate of mine breathed some in during seminary. I’ve never seen someone spontaneously combust before.”

Sylas stared at Max for a moment before shaking the image of the classmate burning alive. What were these scientists studying that they were so desperate for a useful gene to so crudely mutate an organism’s genome?

He wished more of their research had been left so he could have pieced their goal together. He would bring it up to Hagen when they got back to Groundbreaker. Maybe she would be willing to share some insight into the project.

“So now we just need to fabricate authorization of the transfer?” Ellie asked. “You’re up Vicky.”

Max only grunted as they continued to scour the lab for the correct authorization terminal. Sylas really hoped the pay out for this job was worth it for how many hoops they had to jump through. 

After the third terminal they checked, they finally found the one that could authorize the transfer. 

“This is the part where I take over, Captain,” Max said, placing a hand on Sylas’s shoulder and gently moving him out of the way. “Do not fret, I’ve been cracking systems like these for years.”

Sylas felt a shiver go up his spine when Max touched him and hoped that Max didn’t feel it as well. 

“Can’t be any harder than understanding Scientism, right?” Sylas offered, with a small smile. Max seemed tense, but he wasn’t sure joking would really help calm his nerves at the moment. 

“Hah, I do so love when you jest with me,” Max replied, beginning his work. “I will take that as an intended distraction from the stress of all that could go terribly and excruciatingly wrong should I fail…”

He sounded genuine, which was only further confirmed when Ellie gagged and said she was going to go search for anything valuable in the other room. 

“Would you like me to leave as well?” Sylas said, fighting a stammer. Max hadn’t been so vocal about enjoying their argumentative dynamic before. “So you can focus?”

“It’s up to you, Captain,” Max replied, already sounding distant. “Ellie is the more distracting one.”

Sylas nodded, not sure what to do with himself. Ellie and Max were the ones doing everything important. Sylas was just there because it was his ship that was being used for transport. So he moved to occupy himself with scrounging for valuables as well. 

It took nearly 30 minutes, but the sound of fuel going through the adjacent pipes without a subsequent explosion was a good sign. 

“Aha!” Max said with a mix of relief and triumph. “Got it. Easy as mock-apple pie.”

Sylas looked up from trying to open a locked crate with a grin. It was nice to see Max proud of himself without his usual heir of superiority. He stood up and headed over to the terminal to find that the transfer was successfully initiated and would finish quickly. 

“Not too shabby, preacher man,” Sylas agreed. He expected a reprimand for calling him a preacher, but that never came. 

“Not too shabby, indeed,” Max said quietly with a nod.

Sylas raised an eyebrow, not sure if the lack of a retort meant that they were closer as friends than Sylas originally thought or Max was under more stress than he originally let on.

He hoped it was the former, because the latter meant he was continuing to not be the most courteous boss. 

What did it mean if they were growing closer though? Once they got to Scylla, there would really be no reason for Max to stay on with the crew. Would Sylas just become someone Max remembered fondly every so often. 

He didn’t want Max to leave. He didn’t want to just be a nice memory. 

It was too late when Sylas realized he had spent an unusual amount of time staring at Max, who was looking back at him with a concerned expression. 

“Is everything alright, Captain?”

“Yeah,” Sylas replied, looking to the door to avert his gaze. “Just glad this is taken care of.”

“I agree,” Max replied. “Making Sublight wait is not the best idea. Shall we head out?”

Sylas nodded, knowing that he couldn’t keep getting distracted by his personal desires.

That would hurt more in the long run.


	17. Chapter 17

There were so many boxes of still good Purpleberry Crunch in the cargo hold and Felix didn’t know where he was going to put them all. Parvati was looking through the machine parts while Nyoka and Ellie sorted the alcohol. Max sat at the workbench, keeping notes on the new inventory. 

They had to catalogue everything that was gathered from Cascadia while Sylas went to go talk Sanjar into working with Zora. Felix didn’t mind though. He hadn’t seen a haul like this one before, and they would be the ones to make bits off of it.

“Alright, that’s fifteen bottles of Spectrum Red, three bottles of Spectrum violet, and a half empty bottle of Glacial Aged Whiskey that smells a little off,” Nyoka announced. “Who bothered picking this up?”

“Look, I don’t drink the stuff, but I know the boss and Max do, so why not?” Felix defended. He was trying to be thoughtful and he recognized the bottle from the little stash in Sy’s room. They could throw it out if it was bad.

“While I’m sure Sylas appreciates the sentiment, Mr.Millstone, I am not going to drink murader whiskey,” Max replied with a frown before taking note of the other items. “I see you trying to sneak one of the Violets, Dr.Fenhill.”

“Yeah, well cross off the fifteen in your little notes and write fourteen and I’ll share it with you, Vicky,” Ellie shot back. “The captain doesn’t need to know-”

“The captain doesn’t need to know what?” called Sylas from the airlock as the door shut. 

“Dr.Fenhill was hoping to keep a bottle of Spectrum Violet for herself instead of selling it off with the rest of the salvage,” ADA replied over the speakers. 

“You didn’t have to be a nark too, ADA!” Ellie called out. 

“Keep it, Ellie,” Sylas said with a wave of his hand before heading to the comms station in the bridge. 

Felix walked past as Ellie stuck her tongue out to Max, who edited his notes with a scowl. It was nice to work as a full crew on a mission for once instead of splitting up. It felt like they were actually in this together instead of people that Sy had just hired on.

Sylas typed away at the comms when Felix came up behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist. Sylas shivered, pausing for a moment, as Felix put his face in the bend between Sylas’s neck and shoulder. He smelled a little of sulfur mixed with saltuna and purpleberry, but it wasn’t too bad. 

“How was counting things?” Sylas asked as he typed, leaning his head on Felix’s. 

“We have so much Rizzo’s I might turn purple,” Felix replied. “And I think Parvati might have plans for fixing a lot of the weapons we found.”

“You can’t eat all the junk food just because we have it,” Sylas responded, finishing up with whatever message he needed to send. “You’ll make yourself sick.”

“But what fun is having all the food if we can’t eat it?” Felix shot back, swaying side to side as Sylas sighed. 

“Fine, eat it all, but don’t come running to me or Ellie when you’re throwing up purple in the morning.”

“This is why you’re the best boss,” he said, kissing him on the neck and smirking when he got another shiver. Just because Sylas didn’t always pick up on the more sexual side of a relationship didn’t mean his body didn’t. Maybe they could try moving to the next stage once all the funny business with SubLight and MSI was over.

The comms dinged with a response, which Sylas opened and took a deep breath.

“Who you talkin to?”

“Zora,” Sylas murmured, beginning to type a response. “Sanjar was willing to talk as long as I was there to moderate. They want to meet tonight in that old church in the Southern ruins.”

“You’re not going alone, are you?” Felix asked, straightening up and loosening his grip on Sylas. Felix may have not been one for diplomatic endeavors, but he knew that going in there alone was just asking to get murked. 

“No, I was going to take anyone who wanted to come along. It’s not like there aren’t going to be a lot of people out there already. No need to try to be sneaky.”

“Good,” Felix replied simply, glad that he would be able to be there with him. Just because he didn’t really understand why they had to talk it out first before just working together didn’t mean he couldn’t stand there and support Sylas.

“I’m glad you approve,” Sylas teased before pulling himself out of Felix’s grasp. “And, despite enjoying our current arrangement, I really should go shower before we go to this meeting.” 

“The whole crew knows about us,” Felix said with an eyebrow raised. “And I’ll need a shower too, so why don’t we just go together?”

Sylas inhaled sharply and tensed up, which probably meant “no”, but he looked like he was trying to find words. 

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Felix offered. So they could sleep in the same bed but no to the showering together even if sex wasn’t even being considered? 

He had to shove the image of Sylas naked and surrounded by steam down to be brought back up later. Even he could tell this was not the time. 

“Sorry,” Sylas whispered before pecking him on the lips. “Thank you. I need time to think.”

So it wasn’t off the table, just not now.

He could live with that.

  
  
  


Max felt odd walking outside the walls of Stellar bay with only vestments adorning his shoulders. MSI guards had already cleared the path to the abandoned church and several Iconoclast soldiers stood outside the building, huddled together and eyeing anyone who grew close. 

The sky changed from the faded blue to a soft smattering of pink clouds on a purple background. The wind stayed as sporadic as ever, sending up plumes of dust in the distance. 

Sylas led the crew of The Unreliable, including the fucking cleaning automechanical, through the tension right into the heart of the conflict like a man on a mission. Nyoka took her place at his left while Max stood on his right, closely followed by Felix and Parvati. Ellie hung back with SAM, already looking bored of the whole ordeal. 

As they entered the familiar space of an OSI church, Max was almost brought back to Edgewater. But this building had been sitting, and despite their best efforts, whomever had tried to clean up here would never be able to bring it back to its former glory. 

The pulpits were moved into the center meeting area, providing a spot for both Sanjar and Zora to stand facing each other.

And it would provide some cover for the leaders in case this meeting went sour. 

Sylas stepped forward, greeting the two in a friendly tone despite the obvious tension in the air. Bringing the whole crew instead of the usual pair of tagalongs was a planned action. The usual party could deal with a large group of marauders, but that assumed Sylas had enough space to pick them off and make sure whomever was getting into the thick of it wasn’t getting a face full of lead right off the bat. His close combat fighting could use some work, so why not bring the whole battalion to help make sure they got out alive?

Max had missed the pleasantries, or whatever passed for pleasantries where Zora was concerned, as the negotiation began in front of him. 

Zora opened with the fact that Stellar Bay was both better supplied and better defended, so it would be the ideal location to house everyone. But Sanjar countered that it is too small for its current population, let alone double that if those in Amber Heights joined, and the budgeting would take weeks to sort out. 

Max rolled his eyes at Sanjar’s overly meticulous detail. If pressed, they could make a passable budget to stave off a threat of extermination and iron out the specifics after people were settled.

“Doubling the population would, in theory, double the costs. Stellar bay is barely supporting itself right now,” Sylas agreed. “The Iconoclasts can help support supply lines and whatever else needs to get done to pull their weight.”

“Not good enough,” Zora replied, glaring slightly at Sylas. “I need to move a fair amount of my people into the city. We need shelter, Captain.”

The trade of shelter for helping was more than fair. What did they want? To mull around while being cared for?

“Yes, I know,” Sylas responded. “But the people who call Stellar Bay home right now are barely keeping themselves afloat. Your people will need to pull their weight to be a part of the community.”

Max winced slightly, watching Zora frown at the idea. Sylas could have worded it better. 

Sylas took a deep breath and continued. 

“Once the situation stabilized, a group effort could be made to reclaim the ruins and fortify them. Build a secondary wall. Then you’ll have some housing ready for people to move into to alleviate the pressure inside the main walls,” he proposed, looking to Sanjar.

“It’s true that there are more than enough houses in the ruin districts to accommodate everyone comfortably once they are defended,” Sanjar agreed. “We can make plans towards securing the southern ruins first since the south road is more heavily traveled.”

Zora looked between the Captain and Sanjar, before nodding. 

“It’s a start that I can work with, assuming I can move my more vulnerable people into the city proper as soon as possible,” Zora replied. 

“That can be arranged,” Sanjar said with a nod. “I wouldn’t have heard such a compromise from Graham.”

Ah, this would be interesting. He hadn’t considered if the MSI CEO had actually known about the true origin of the Amber Heights Massacre, given that he and Graham were close at the time. 

“Graham was a murderous fiend,” Zroa replied, barely holding back a snarl. She was definitely still in the middle of processing Graham’s betrayal of their philosophy. “I’d be shocked if you didn’t already know that.”

Sanjar looked between the two, looking genuinely confused. 

“This feels like one of those times when everyone at headquarters but me is laughing at something,” Sanjar said quietly. “But you two aren’t laughing.”

“I don’t think he knew,” Sylas explained to Zora. “Graham hid it from everyone, why not Sanjar too?”

“Amber Heights, you hullhead! Ten years ago?” Zora interrogated, ignoring Sylas’s attempt at mediation. “Graham had all those people killed!”

“What? That’s not possible,” Sanjar defended. “Even for him, that’s going too far.”

“He did, “ Sylas replied. “We found correspondence between him and the pirates. He had given them the code to the front gate.”

The negotiation had been going well until Graham was brought up. These two had very similar histories with the man, and now it was Sanjar’s turn to be betrayed. 

“But that means…” Sanjar stuttered, processing the information in real time. “I had no idea, I swear! We were both fed up with corporate leadership, but I never guessed he would do something like that!”

By the look on the man’s face, Max believed that he hadn’t known. But this would likely haunt him for some time. 

“You can’t just take bureaucrats at their word, Captain,” Zora retorted. “You back someone into a corner like this and they’ll say anything to get out of it.”

“Then stop backing him into a corner,” Sylas snapped before taking a breath to recompose himself. “You’re here to negotiate a better situation for your people, not to get revenge on a man who clearly had no part in the massacre beyond being friends with Graham.”

“Right,” Zora said, backing down slightly. “That wound is still fresh.”

Max watched Sylas, seeing the tension in his shoulders loosed slightly. In his periphery, Max saw Ellie’s eyebrow cock as she watched him and he shifted his gaze back to Sanjar.

“You know, I felt the same way years ago, when he first left,” Sanjar said, leaning forward slightly toward Zora. “There was something magnetic about him that let you ignore the things you didn’t want to see. Surely you know what that’s like”

Most cult leaders did have quite the charismatic side and Graham was no different. It would be interesting what direction the Iconoclasts would take under new guidance.

“Yeah- yeah I do,” Zora replied, looking down for a moment. “Alright, you’ve got a deal. House and supply some of us and we will lend our more capable hands to help out.”

Max could feel the collective group release a sigh of relief at the compromise coming to fruition. 

“Great!” Sylas said, looking between the two leaders as they came together to shake hands. “You can do great things together, I know it.“

After a few more words, Sylas turned and motioned for the crew to follow. 

“Gotta be honest, Captain,” Nyoka started, gently punching Sylas in the arm. “Never thought I’d see the day. You’ve done a good thing for Monarch here.”

“I’d dare say changed the course of history,” Max added. “A commendable feat, to say the least.”

He wasn’t trying to be patronizing, but the side glance he received from the Captain hinted that he was not successful in that regard. Max offered a slight smile and Sylas’s suspicion melted completely. 

It was almost too easy.

“Hey, maybe once everything sorts itself out and you have all your answers, maybe you can settle down there,” Sylas teased, gently bumping into Max’s shoulder. “You can barely smell the saltuna out here.”

Max grumbled, but didn’t put any real feeling behind it. 

  
  
  


Sylas sat at one of the picnic style tables on the balcony of The Yacht Club, back pressed against the wall and Felix laying against his chest. Nyoka and Ellie traded contract stories as Felix and Max argued over the tossball match playing on one of the screens. 

“And the Fraser brothers get taken down by the Black Hole!” Felix yelled when one of the players brutally tore into two other players. “Suck sulfur, Max!”

“Give them a moment,” Max replied with a smirk before a horn was blown, showing that whatever team that wasn’t the Rangers scored the goal despite two of their team getting taken out of play. “And it looks like that's a game. I believe you owe me a beverage, son.” 

“What?!” Felix questioned, sitting up to more closely watch the instant replay before draping himself back onto Sylas dramatically. “I don’t actually have to pay him back, right boss?”

“Don’t look at me,” Sylas said with a grin before running a hand through Felix’s hair. “You made the bet, not me.”

“Are you not going to make good on our deal?” Max asked. “Because I was really craving another top shelf glacial aged-”

“Top shelf for a prerecorded game?” Sylas questioned before taking a drink of his tripistout. 

“PRERECORDED?” Felix questioned, sitting up. “Fuck that, Max. Buy your own damn booze.”

“I was so close, Captain,” Max said with a sigh.

“You were and then you got greedy,” Sylas replied. “Not a good look for a priest.”

“Ah yes, because ratting a friend out to your partner is better,” Max pointed out.

“I’ve never claimed to not be a biased party,” Sylas said, a warm feeling blossoming in his chest that wasn't due to the alcohol in his veins. Max had already called them friends, but it didn’t seem to diminish with repetition. “But I should be nicer because I’m the captain.”

“He’s being a dick and you’re going to be nice?” Felix asked, looking up at him with betrayal in his eyes. 

It was working. 

He probably should have stopped at three beers, but no. They were celebrating before making the trip back to Groundbreaker in the morning. Sylas pressed the little intercom button that led downstairs.

“Another round up top, please,” he said, earning a small woop from Ellie and Nyoka. 

“Another tactful compromise,” Max teased, finishing off his previous drink. 

“Yeah, well he doesn’t come crawling into your bed in the middle of the night,” Sylas replied. “I might as well make sure it’s to come cuddle or something and not try to guilt me into letting him bring a pet sprat on board.”

“Hey, sprats are better than the wooly cow we transported that one time,” Felix grumbled. “At least sprat poop is small.”

“I don’t think ADA would appreciate a sprat getting all up in her gears,” Sylas mused. 

“SAM’s the only one allowed to do that,” Nyoka said before taking a shot. 

Sylas nearly spit out his drink, choking in the process. 

“I’m glad I’m not the only one who has witnessed this!” Sylas said after recovering. 

“Nope, walked right in and walked right back out,” Nyoka replied with a raise of her glass. “What ADA decides to do in her own time is none of my business.”

“Amen,” Sylas said as the next round was served. The night continued on, with telling of stories and playfully teasing along with more drinks. Soon enough, he found himself quieting down, enjoying the fun the crew was having as he dozed slightly. Felix stayed leaning against his chest and everything was right in the world for the moment. 

“Oh, looks like we’re loosing the captain,” Parvati said with a giggle. Even she partook in the revelry, though drinking wine instead of hard alcohol or beer. “Maybe we should start heading back. You got Sy, Felix?”

“Always,” Felix slurred as he stood up and swayed.

A grin split across Sylas’s face as he said that, earning a gagging noise from Ellie. 

“C’mon, Nyoka, I still have that bottle of spectrum violet in my room and the Captain is getting mushy,” Ellie said, dragging Nyoka out off the balcony. 

Felix slowly helped Sylas up, holding onto each other to keep from falling back down. 

He really overdid it and would pay for it in the morning. But it was fun now. 

It was hard to keep track of how long it took them to stumble back to the ship, but at least Parvati and Max helped corral them back to the Captains quarters. 

“That was fun,” Sylas said as he began to strip down. “I never did stuff like this on Earth.”

“Well now you got us to have fun with,” Felix replied, a relaxed grin on his face. “Earth must have been really boring if you didn’t go out for drinks with friends.”

“I was a fucking nerd who had a hard time making friends, so I stayed home a lot,” Sylas replied. “You would have hated Earth me.”

“I dunno, boss. I like you and this you came out of Earth you, so he was probably alright,” Felix mused. 

Sylas’s heart melted again, not sure how to react to all the feelings he had for the man getting undressed in front of him. 

What did he do to deserve Felix? Felix deserved so much more.

It would be rude not to thank him. 

Sylas stepped forward and, in a tangled mess of limbs, ended up on straddling Felix in the bunk without hitting either of their heads. Sylas captured Felix’s lips in a deep kiss, moaning softly as he pressed his body down. 

Felix responded with a surprised hum, but fell into an enthusiastic rhythm quickly, hands feeling up and down Sylas’s back, fingers tracing scars and only causing the sore muscles to spasm once in protest. 

Sylas broke off to begin trailing kisses down down his jaw to his neck. When he would do this to previous partners, they seemed to enjoy it. And Felix sounded like he enjoyed it by the low hum reverberating from Felix’s chest into his own. 

“Sy?” Felix asked, barely loud enough to hear.

“Hmm?” Sylas replied, slowing down only slightly to try and focus on what Felix was saying.

“Not that I don’t enjoy where this is going,” he murmured, “but you’re drunk and I don’t think you would be doing this if you weren’t.”

No, he probably wouldn’t have, but the alcohol made the whole situation less overwhelming. He wanted to make Felix feel good and normally he would be too much in his own head to do anything that Felix would probably want. 

“You’re too good to me,” Sylas slurred, pulling back from Felix’s neck. “You deserve something in return.”

“Then thank me when you’re not drunk,” Felix said, rubbing a small circle into Sylas’s shoulder. “ ‘M not gonna take advantage just because you think you’re willin’.”

Sylas huffed, rolling onto his side and pressing his back to the wall of the bunk as the endorphins that kept him awake began to wear off, his eyes drooping.

“Fine,” Sylas whined as Felix rolled to rest his back against Sylas’s chest and Sylas wrapped his arms around him. He began to doze immediately, laying his face in the mess of Felix’s wavy hair.

Somewhere beneath the alcohol fueled courage, he was thankful that Felix was lucid enough to be the smart one this time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slowdown in uploads! Nano took a lot out of me and I struggled to complete it, but I did and I have a lot of material to work with now. Seventeen chapters in and we're finally finished with the most of the Monarch quests, so it's just going to get more exciting from here!
> 
> If you want to see more of what I enjoy and maybe some extra Sylas and crew stuff, you can find me on tumblr at @toastedoats42. It's a mess, but it's my mess. Come say hi!


	18. Chapter 18

“Captain?” 

Sylas woke with a pounding head, the light coming from the large windows in his cabin searing into his brain with exacting precision. 

“Captain, Dr. Welles would like to speak to you,” ADA said over the intercom. 

Sylas groaned quietly, pulling himself from the tangled sheets and Felix’s grasp. 

Felix was still there?

Bits and pieces from the night before came back to him. Drinking and walking home arm in arm. Sylas forced himself onto Felix and Felix stopped it before they went anywhere beyond making out. 

Sylas would have spent more time right then appreciating the fact that Felix didn’t take advantage if standing up didn’t send a wave of nausea up from the pit of his stomach. After a moment or two of breathing, he grabbed a shirt off the floor and headed down to the bridge, putting it on as he descended the stairs. 

“Ah! Finally!” Phineas said as Sylas stepped into the room and the door shut behind him. “I received the files from the Information Broker- are you feeling alright?”

“Just peachy,” Sylas replied with much more snark than he intended. “Sorry, I’ll be fine.”

“The Captain and the crew returned last night heavily inebriated,” ADA explained. 

“Ah, the infamous hangover,” Phineas laughed. “Please be careful with how much you imbibe, we don’t know how being under cryostasis affects the functions of the liver.”

“I’ll keep it in mind,” Sylas replied, wiping the sleep from his eyes. “So, your files?

“Right, well I believe that conversation would be better had face to face,” Phineas continued. “Plus, I realized I still have your crate of belongings from your stasis pod.”

His belongings were stored with his pod? What was even in that crate? He was recovering from surgery when it was assembled, so his memories were more than a bit patchy. His mom packed most of it…

“Alright,” Sylas said with a nod. “ADA has your coordinates, but we need to stop off on Groundbreaker first.”

“Can you not just stock up in Stellar Bay? This information is very-”

“One of my fuel tanks is full of Alta Vitae gas for a salvage job.”

“Oh, then yes, please take all the time you need as long as it is gone before you come here,” Phineas replied curtly. “But do make haste. I have found a source of the chemical we need.”

“Sounds good. We’ll be heading that way in a couple hours, max.” 

And with that, the transmission ended. 

“I’m sorry for waking you, Captain,” ADA said, her face flicking to one of worry. “Dr.Welles was very adamant about getting the message to you himself.”

“It’s alright, ADA,” Sylas waved off. “I needed to get up anyway. What time is it?”

“11:26AM, Captain.”

“Oof,” Sylas replied, rubbing his head. “Haven't slept that late in a long time.”

“I have not seen you get up that late yet, so it has been at least 70 years.”

“Don’t remind me,” Sylas groaned, leaving the bridge to head up to the kitchen. He needed to drink some water at least and maybe eat something if his stomach would stop turning. Hopefully the C&P meals the crew pulled out of Cascadia were good for a hangover.

Parvati laid on one of the couches, typing away on a data pad while Ellie and Nyoka sat silently, nursing cups of what smelled like coffee.

The aroma stopped him in his tracks as he looked at the two.

“Don’t ask where I got it, the pot’s on the stove,” Ellie said before taking a sip.

As Sylas poured himself a cup, he heard a giggle come from the couch. Looking over, Parvati sat, trying to hide her grin as she looked at him. 

“What?”

“I didn’t realize you were a Rizzo’s Ranger’s fan, Sy,” Parvati replied, pointing down to the logo on his shirt. 

Well, it was Felix’s shirt from the night before. 

So it was going to be one of those days. 

“Fun night?” Ellie asked with a slight smirk. 

“Boss?” Felix called, stumbling in from the hallway without a shirt on. “Did you see my- oh, nevermind. Lookin’ good, Sy.”

“Gross,” Ellie said with a roll of her eyes. “It’s too early for your mushy stuff, loverboy.”

“Don’t knock till you try it,” Felix shot back as Sylas nearly choked on the mouthful of coffee he tried to swallow. 

“Loverboy?” Sylas asked after clearing his airway.

“Can’t consistently call you a nickname, so he gets it.”

Sylas looked to Felix, who investigated the kettle’s contents before setting it back down.

“Could be worse. I’m used to it now,” Felix said with a shrug, pulling one of his carbonated beverages out of the fridge before leaning against the counter, shoulder to shoulder with Sylas.

“Speaking of getting used to things,” Nyoka said, turning to face them. “I’ve been meanin’ to talk to you about our contract.”

“Oh?” Sylas said, knowing that their original agreement was up. She guided him to Hiram and did a lot more. 

“Yeah, with everything settled for the moment here, I wasn’t sure if you were still wanting to help me out with finding Rebekah and Anders and dealing with the Mants in our old base,” Nyoka explained. “Wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t. Phineas is a handful all by himself.”

Sylas chuckled at that, getting the feeling that whatever Phineas had to say when they met up, it would be even worse than hiking around Monarch for a few files. 

“Nah, I told you I’d help you with burying your friends and I’m not going to go back out on it now,” Sylas replied, glad to see Nyoka smile instead of keeping her usual indifferent expression. 

“Thanks, Cap. I really appreciate it.”

“You’re part of the crew now, Nyoka, don’t worry about it,” Felix added. “We got your back.” 

“Now that everything is sorted, where are we headed to next?” Ellie asked. “I could really use some air that doesn’t smell like either Saltuna or sulfur right now.”

“Well, we need to go to Groundbreaker to drop off the gas and maybe pick up some other jobs,” Sylas listed. “We restock, and then we need to meet with Phineas. He has gotten his info and wants to talk about it face-to-face.”

“Wait, we’re actually going to his lab?” Parvati asked. 

“Yep,” Sylas confirmed. 

“Maybe he’ll let me check out his equipment,” she said excitedly. 

“I doubt it,” Sylas replied. “I was awake for like a minute before he ejected me to Terra 2. I don’t think he’s a people person.”

"So we are all going to go meet him, right?” Ellie asked. “I’d like to actually see this mad scientist for myself.”

"Naturally.”

  
  
The day and half flight through space felt longer than it should have been as Max tried to curb his increasing anxiety over Bakonu’s book. What answers did it hold? And how much longer would the Captain make him wait until they traveled to Scylla?

Sylas had informed him of the plan for the next couple of days, which made sense. They didn’t need the volatile gas on their ship for any longer than absolutely necessary and, according to Sylas, Dr.Welle’s lab was in orbit around Terra 2. 

It was the next closest stop. 

But what then? Would Max be dragged on several more extraneous adventures before his desires were put in the forefront? 

He needed to continue to be patient. 

The Plan would continue on even if he didn’t solve everything, but it meant that every day that he didn’t spend deciphering its depths would be another day of suffering for humanity as a whole. 

But Sylas has been helping people for the most part, reducing their suffering. Where did all of this fit in?

He wished that he didn’t have to wait to see how things fit together retrospectively. He wanted to know now so he could make the correct decision without regret. 

Would he eventually regret his time on this ship?

Thoughts of the adventures he had been on came to the forefront of his mind. Infiltrating the not-so-secret lab near Roseway. Hiking through the Monarch Wilderness. Drinking together with the crew the other night. 

Watching over Sylas and Felix as they stumbled back to the ship, laughing as they held onto each other to stay upright. 

A pang of of bittersweet happiness emerged from somewhere deep in his chest.

That didn’t surprise him as much as the lack of jealousy did. 

Had he grown soft in his time on The Unreliable? His attraction to the captain was easy. They were more similar than Sylas would probably like to admit. That kind of wisdom would come in time.

But Felix? He was as stubborn as a wooly cow and could be louder than any engine when he wanted to be, not to mention his inane insistence on kicking creatures ten times his size instead of using the perfectly functioning firearm he carried whenever they headed out into hostile territory. 

Felix never half-assed anything. He was pure energy and passion and to use it for anything than it’s full potential would be a waste. 

If he could only be more focused, he could be a leader in the revolution he so adamantly sought out. 

Max could teach him to focus. He learned many ways of focusing his mind during seminary, though Felix would not take to meditation well. 

But he could funnel that energy into something else productive, at least for the coming months of fighting. As long as Max could teach him how to handle himself against people, he and Sylas could cover for mishaps around wildlife.

They were quite the trio. A teacher out of time, an OSI vicar with a short fuse, and a Back Bays revolutionary on a ship together to make Halcyon a better place for humanity despite having different ideas of what that would mean in practice. 

The bittersweet feeling returned, filling his chest full of a longing he always tried to repress. A longing, that he realized, was not for either of the younger men separately. 

Together, Felix and Sylas were an unguided switch that flipped between complete hesitation and unrestricted flying into the unknown. 

Max could offer guidance. Balance. 

He scoffed, rolling his eyes at his own train of thought. 

Him being with either of them exclusively didn’t fit into his trajectory in the grand scheme of things, so hoping for both was a fantasy he shouldn’t have even entertained.

A knock on the door roused him from his thoughts. He stood from his place at his desk and opened the door to find Felix standing there, looking hesitant. 

Speak of the chaos.

“Hey, Max,” Felix started, not making eye contact. 

“What can I do for you, Mr.Millstone?” Max asked, looking around to see if there was actually anything to look at. There was none. “I’m surprised you are not spending time with the captain.”

He had tried his best to keep the contempt out of his voice, but with the anxiety coming off of Felix, the man may have not registered it if Max hadn’t.

“That’s the thing. Sy is working on captain stuff and it’s not like I could help him with all the numbers and the like, so I didn’t want to bother him-”

“Please just get to the point, son.”

“Look, you’re probably the best one of us at hand to hand combat and I was wondering if you'd spar with me?” Felix asked. 

Max looked for some kind of tell to show this was a prank, but Felix seemed genuine in his request. It was funny that an opportunity to guide presented itself so soon. 

“I’m not an expert on the matter,” Max replied. He had spent years in the biggest prison in Halcyon, sure. “I’ve never been formally trained.”

"Who gives a fuck if you’ve been trained?” Felix shot back, gaining some of his fire back. 

He must have been embarrassed for asking help from someone he didn’t agree with.

Max shrugged and nodded. 

“Sure,” he replied simply. “Meet me in the cargo bay in ten minutes.”

“Wait, really?” Felix asked, taken aback. 

“Unless you don’t actu-”

“No, I do,” Felix interrupted. “I thought you’d put up more of a fight.”

“Might as well save it for the actual fighting, no?” 

Felix puffed up slightly and headed into his room to get ready, closing the door behind him. Max couldn’t help but smile as he shut his own door and pulled off his cassock.

No reason to risk it getting stained for something that fulfilled his personal desires. 

  
  


Felix stood in the cargo bay, having already cleared enough space for them to move around. It was hard to tell exactly how much time had passed since he had gotten up the nerve to actually ask Max to spar. He hadn’t been sure if the Vicar would just blow him off. 

But he didn’t. 

He had actually seemed interested in it despite stating that he hadn’t been trained. 

Felix had seen him deck a marauder hard enough to knock them out, so what Max didn’t have in training he made up for in intuition. 

Plus he made it out of prison with his face intact. That had to count for something. 

Felix began warming up when he heard footsteps come down the stairs. Max came through the door in one of his undershirts and a stained set of slacks, his hands wrapped in some kind of bandage. 

Felix nearly felt it as Max looked him up and down before making eye contact. 

“I had a feeling you wouldn’t wrap your hands,” Max said, pulling some more bandages out of his pocket and tossing them to Felix. 

“Never have when we did this in the back bays,” Felix replied.

“Surprised you never broke your hand,” Max mused. “Do you know how to wrap them?”

Felix shook his head and Max quickly unwrapped one of his to show the steps. It was a little complicated, but Felix got it on his third try and his fist felt more solid because of it. 

“Alright,” Max said, taking a stance and holding his fists in front of his face. “Show me what you’ve got, kid.”

Kid? Oh, he was going to get it. 

Felix launched himself forward, throwing his whole body behind the punch like Sylas had shown him, but Max shifted to the side and knocked it away with a forearm while countering with a jab to the stomach with the opposite fist. It wasn’t hard, but it was enough to make Felix pull back. Felix tried again, wanting to put enough power behind the blow to take Max down, but the older man just dodged again and did some kind of weird step which put Felix face first into the metal floor.

“I can see why you wanted to practice, Mr. Millstone,” Max commented, taking a step away and adjusting the wraps on his hands. “Thankfully you’ve only had to fight marauders and wildlife with backup.”

“Was that leg thing something you learned doing time, Vic?” Felix retorted, getting up and brushing himself off. 

“No, I learned that one in my seminary tossball league,” Max replied. “And I didn’t ‘do time’ or whatever other euphemism you and Dr.Fenhill like to use. I was assigned to oversee a flock that just happened to be in prison.”

“Yeah, sure. You had to have pissed someone off for them to put you there,” Felix said before getting back into a defensive stance. “Do you want to continue or run your mouth all day?”

“And here I thought you started that conversation,” Max responded, taking the initiative this time. Felix blocked the first incoming blow, but was caught off guard by the combination of a second and third blow that followed, punching him back against the workbench. 

Felix felt his breath catch as Max loomed over him before backing off. He had a slight smirk on his face as a few hairs had come loose from his usually properly slicked back hair. The look in his eyes reminded him of the look Sylas wore when they investigated the murder, but Max’s was more… playful? 

It was weird and Felix was thankful when Max backed up, giving him enough space to breathe. 

“You have to keep your eyes on your opponent and anticipate what they are going to do next,” Max instructed. “You can’t rely on taking them out in one hit. You have to have your next steps ready in case they throw something at you that you hadn’t expected.”

“Fine, let’s go again,” Felix replied. 

He lost count of how many rounds they had gone through, Felix slowly learning when to block versus taking the hit and when were good openings to make a strike. Towards the end, Max started saying things like “there you go” and “that’s an improvement,” which fed Felix’s drive to continue. 

If Max thought he was improving, it must have been true. 

It felt like too soon when they were both breathing heavily and soaked with a layer of sweat. Max wore one of his slight grins, hair sticking to his forehead as a bruise began to bloom on his jaw where Felix had landed a solid punch. 

The intensity in his eyes hadn’t faded though. 

Felix felt his body ache, knowing only part of it was due to the thorough beating he had received. But it was a good ache, something that he needed to get out of his system. 

And knowing just how capable Max could be behind his jackass persona? Definitely worth the sore muscles he would be dealing with in a few hours. 

Seeing him in clothing that left less to the imagination than the vestments was just another bonus.

“Sylas was right, you do learn better through demonstration,” Max said with a short laugh. 

“Of course I was right, I’m the captain.”

Both Felix and Max jerked their heads to see Sylas sitting perched on the balcony that led to the engine room, legs dangling over the edge and chin resting on a rail.

Felix felt his whole face and upper body flush, not sure how long Sylas had been watching him and Max wail on each other. Did he see how many times Felix got knocked down?

Did he see when he actually beat Max? It may have only happened once or twice, but it was a stark improvement. 

“I’m glad we could provide you with some entertainment, Captain,” Max said, pulling the wraps off his hand. 

“And you didn’t dent anything or get blood everywhere!” Sylas joked, glancing at the tossball sized crater still on the lockers in the airlock. “ADA says that we’ll be at Groundbreaker in a couple of hours, so you might want to go shower and patch yourselves up unless you want to draw attention.

“Alright Captain,” Max said with a nod. “Do you want me to accompany you when you go talk to Sublight? I did play a large role in the job despite not being there when you picked it up.”

“It would be appreciated.”

“Me too, boss?” Felix asked. It had been weeks since they left Groundbreaker and it would be nice to visit the ship he used to call home. 

“I thought you might want to show Nyoka around,” Sylas suggested. “This is her first time off planet and you know Groundbreaker better than anyone.”

That was definitely true. Nyoka had shown them across her stomping grounds, so it was his turn to show off his home turf. 

“Alright, but don’t leave me out of all the exciting stuff,” Felix said. 

“Like what? We’re just getting paid and then restocking,” Sylas said with a shrug. “I might grab some upgrades to work on while we go between planets. We’d have quite a bit of time to kill on our way to Scylla.”

Right, Max needed to go to the asteroid for his book. 

And then he’d be gone. 

Which, now that they were actually getting along, kinda sucked.


	19. Chapter 19

Sylas stepped out of Sublight shipping, taking a deep breath as he took in the Groundbreaker Promenade. Liyla Hagen was much less helpful than he had hoped, not wanting to divulge any information she had until he ran another scrapping mission for her. 

“Do you think she actually has any information on that research you found in Cascadia?” Max asked, back in his vestments after his lessons with Felix earlier. 

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Sylas said with a sigh. “But this next job is huge, so it should at least pay well even if her information is trash.”

“Fair point,” Max agreed, looking around. 

Felix, Nyoka, and Ellie were nowhere to be found in the main walkways and he knew Parvati was in Engineering with Junlei.

“Do you have anything to pick up while we are here?” Sylas asked, looking over to Max. The older man looked tired, the bags under his eyes more pronounced than usual. Sylas presumed he was still recovering from a hangover and his match with Felix. 

“Not that I can think of at the moment, Captain,” Max said, looking back at him. “I won’t object to going for a stroll through. The trip to Scylla will be a long one to be in close quarters.”

Sylas nodded, remembering that ADA estimated it would take at least three days of space travel to get to the remote asteroid. 

“We have to stop to see my friend first, but he is close and I don’t think he will want anything more than a short visit.”

“Oh, so we actually get to meet this contact of yours?” 

“Yes, you all are risking yourselves as much as I am, so you have every right to meet him,” Sylas said in a quieter tone as one of the advertisement automechanicals passed by. “I’m sure he won’t appreciate it.”

Max chuckled as they walked towards the Spacer’s Choice and the Rest-n-Go. It was nice to hear the man laugh instead of just grunting in response. Maybe it was familiarity allowing Max to open up, but maybe the exposure to so many interesting individuals was softening him a bit. 

“Given his circumstances, I don’t think he would,” Max agreed. “How long had you been watching Felix and I?”

“Fifteen minutes, maybe?” Sylas said with a shrug. “I’ve gotten better at accounting, so I had time on my hands and ADA said you two were fighting in the cargo bay.”

“That is more accurate than when she calls our discussions over his rebellious nature or tossball fighting,” Max mused. 

“You were doing really well,” Sylas said, window shopping for what he needed to stock up. “In teaching him how he learns best and not getting frustrated, not that you weren’t fighting well-”

“I understand what you mean and thank you for the compliment,” Max interrupted, stopping his rambling before it got more out of hand. “He is a fast learner when he puts his mind to it. And I can admit in my current company that it was cathartic to physically knock some sense into the man.”

Sylas snorted, earning a few concerned looks from a pair of Mardets walking by. 

“I am surprised that you laugh at your partner coming to physical harm,” Max replied, sounding too concerned for it to be genuine. 

“Honestly, he definitely earns it sometimes,” Sylas said, trying to pull himself together. “I think it’s good for you two to wail on each other from time to time. Gets out the tension between you and him.”

Max made a weird quiet sound, but Sylas wasn’t sure what brought it out. It wasn’t his place to push. 

As Max regained his composure, Sylas spotted the vendor he had been hoping was there. Last time they had been on Groundbreaker, this person was selling ship modifications, including kits to make pull down beds in crew quarters. 

And like that, Sylas moved on to the project for the trip to Scylla.

  
  
  


Max stood in the bridge as the Unreliable docked into the secret base of Halcyon’s number one most wanted criminal. The crew hadn’t spent a long time on the Groundbreaker, just enough for them to restock and for Sylas to spend all the money they received from the Sublight assignment on several kits full of metal. 

But now they were sitting inside a larger rock that comprised the rings of Terra 2 that hid a whole lab with their comms shut down so they couldn’t be tracked to this location. It was a smart plan on Sylas’s part, but it did mean that he had to help ADA navigate the dangerous terrain to the base. 

“We’ve arrived Captain,” ADA said as Sylas backed up from the viewing window. “Next time you wish to come visit Dr.Welles, please give me several days notice so I can accumulate the rock movement patterns of the Terra 2 rings ahead of time,” she continued, sounding very exasperated for an AI piloting program.

“I’m sorry, ADA,” Sylas replied, looking at the AI’s screen. “I’d rather have to manually pilot than get shot down because we were followed.”

Max was unsure why the Captain encouraged the AI’s deviancy, but he didn’t say anything. ADA was not a person, just a very advanced program that could simulate human emotion accurately. 

“Are you nervous?” Max asked, watching Sylas rub the back of his neck after double checking that the navigation system and comms were shut down for the fifth time since they began the several hour trip to the base. 

“I- uh- yeah, I am,” Sylas admitted, flopping into the captain’s chair with a sigh. “I don’t know what kind of information he got from Hiram, but I’m sure it’s going to involve stealing shit from a very well guarded establishment.”

“At least you are not underestimating the possibilities of the next step of your journey,” Max replied. “However, worrying about what could possibly happen is fruitless and a waste of energy.”

Sylas rolled his eyes, which meant that Max’s attempt at consoling him was misplaced despite it’s truth. 

“I envy the peace you find in your faith, Max,” Sylas said after a moment, getting up and moving to the airlock.

Max frowned, watching him leave without moving to follow. From what he could glean from past conversations, Sylas was a religious man once, though he never believed in the Plan OSI investigates. But Sylas lost his faith due to a conflict between who he was and what the religion asked of him. Max never asked what specifically the conflict was, but he doubted he would understand even if it was explained to him. The religions on Earth he had learned about in seminary did not have any real substantial backing in science. They were true religions of faith.

And despite the backing Scientism had, the peace Sylas saw in Max was not truly there. It was a facade, learned after years of training.

He sought peace, yes. But he had not yet found it. 

The rest of the crew filed into the airlock as Max finally followed the Captain. It was odd, seeing them all leaving together in something other than their defensive armor. 

The docking bay was even more odd, only having two ports, the other occupied by a sad looking ship that sparked every so often as is slouched in its assigned spot. Crates and cables littered the rest of the place, their contents strewn about. The lack of order made Max’s skin crawl. 

The speakers sparked to life, followed by the sound of someone tapping on the microphone. 

“Hello? Can you hear me?” called the voice over the speakers, sounding somewhat frantic. “Glad to see you have arrived in one piece Captain! I am just securing my ongoing experiments, and securing myself!”

“I assume that is the infamous Phineas Welles?” Max asked, taking Sylas’s side as they approached the entry into the lab. He didn’t sound nearly as delirious as the Board made him out to be. 

“That’s him,” Sylas confirmed. “He’s a bit scatterbrained.”

“Evidently,” Max murmured, looking at all the odds and ends left about in the main entrance. 

Entering into the lab proper was a whole other can of Saltuna. Monitors dotted the walls and notes lay scattered on tables. The distinct smell of cisty pig mixed with industrial cleaner flipped his nostrils. And behind a large wall of what was most likely bullet proof glass stood a tall, gangly man with unkempt white hair that Max could recognize from all the wanted posters. 

He definitely looked like a scientist. And scientists had information and Max was sure Phineas wasn’t being completely forthright with his.

“Sylas! It’s great to see that you are not, in fact, a liquefied pool of viscera,” Phineas said from behind the glass, pointedly only looking at Sylas as he spoke. “Welcome to my little -ah- habitation, such as it is. I’ve got caffenoids, Cysty bits, if you’re into that sort of thing.”

“I could go for some Cisty bits,” Felix murmured under his breath. 

“It’s appreciated, Dr.Welles,” Sylas replied, glancing over at what looked to be a living cisty pig roaming in one of the lab areas near what looked to be a raptidon in a tube. “But I don’t think we will be staying long. We have to begin the trek to Scylla after this.”

Max barely registered the fact that Sylas mentioned Scylla in his search for the closest terminal that he could likely get to without being seen. 

"Scylla? It’s not my business in what you get up to for bits, but that is quite far away,” Welles said. “Hope it is worth the trouble.”

“I think it will be,” Sylas confirmed. “You haven’t met my crew-”

“Yes, I am aware and I have been trying very hard to avoid making eye contact,” Welles interrupted. “And before you say another word, I don’t want to know their names or who they are. Let’s just enjoy our plausible deniability while it lasts, shall we? Why didn’t you just invite the entire colony to my secret, carefully concealed laboratory while you were at it?”

So the mad scientist had some kind of common sense.

“They’ve put their lives online for this cause just as much as I have, so they deserve to know who they are working for,” Sylas shot back in a low voice, causing Welles to jump back slightly. “They know all about the Hope and what we are doing here.”

The wall of bullet proof glass was a good idea on his part. He couldn’t have known that Sylas had a temper and he had to prepare for the worst. 

“Oh fine,” Welles replied. “As long as you're vouching for their character.”

“I am,” Sylas responded curtly before introducing each crewmate and their role on the ship. 

“I am pleased that you found a crew,” Welles said, now looking at the crewmates before his eyes fell on Max with a slight look of distrust. “Such as they are.”

“Vicar DeSoto is not your typical OSI grunt, I can assure you,” Sylas defended before Max could step in. 

Max should have known that Welles would be distrustful of him due to his position, but he had been traveling with Sylas for weeks now. Unless Sylas hadn’t told Welles that he spilled their secret. 

“Now about the information you received?” Sylas asked as the crew dispersed to look around the lab. 

Max tried to look inconspicuous as he walked towards the rapt in the tank, really checking to see if Welles could see him access the terminal next to it to hack into the lab’s files. Ellie came up beside him.

“You’re going to try and get this guy’s info, right?” She whispered, not looking at him. 

“If I can do it without him noticing,” Max replied, listening back to Sylas and Welles’s conversation. 

By the way Welles sounded, they’d be headed to Byzantium for the next stage of their mission, but Sylas was definitely making sure they had a viable plan instead of just winging it as they went. 

“Get it quick,” Ellie said with a nod. “I’ll cover for you.”

Max nodded, watching her go over to take a good look at what looked to be a cryopod. 

Max kneeled down, trying to hide his frame as he quickly entered the log screen of the computer. The computer wasn’t password protected initially, but the actual research notes were. 

‘Hope’ was not a secure password. Luckily this system wasn’t connected to any outside connection. Inside there were observations on cisty pigs, Sylas, and then a list of specific numbers. The numbered files were under a better password, and weren’t worth the time to try and access. 

Based on the dates of the files he could open, the numbered files occurred between Welles’s research in cysty pigs and his revival of Sylas. The human trials before Sylas maybe?

His failures? 

Max focused on Sylas’s file. Sylas’s initial revival took quite a long time and he only had a relatively small chance of survival. The mixture of actual observations and procedures and Welles’s rambling made it hard to pick apart what the scientist actually did to revive the Captain. It was successful, but there were definite anomalies in neurotransmitter production. 

Welles further diagnosed Sylas with tachypsychia and a hyperactive fight or flight response, which would probably be the source of Sylas’s ability to slow down time. 

The overarching theme showed that Sylas was the first of Welles’s subjects to not experience liquefactive cell death in any of his organ systems, the first to survive the ordeal. 

But then the document transitioned to notes when Welles checked in on Sylas during their travels. The day they left Emerald Vale, when they arrived in Stellar Bay, text conversations that took place between video chats. 

Sylas had learned to activate the time dilation, as Welles called it, but he also experienced involuntary initiations.

There were times where he couldn’t break himself out of the dilation without extra help. He hadn’t mentioned this when they discussed his situation being unfrozen from the Hope.

It happened every few days and seemed to be picking up frequency. But Sylas was taking precautions, experimenting with what conditions could decrease the chances of an involuntary initiation. 

Looking through the lists of occurrences, two jumped out to him. One was the morning Max had found him having his ‘panic attack’. So he had lied about that to both him and Ellie.

The second was the most recent one. He had an incident the night before last, after they got back to Cascadia and Felix had pulled him out of it. Sylas was worried that he wouldn’t be able to keep this side effect hidden for much longer with everything else out in the open. 

“Hey!” Welles called, causing Max to jump. “Dr.Fenhill was it? Don’t touch my cysty pigs! I haven't gotten to perform autopsies on those yet!”

Max sighed a slight breath of relief as he backed out of the computer and cleared his tracks. No reason to give Welles a reason to doubt Sylas. 

“Oh, and your belongings crate is there along with the Nav key,” Welles said, pointing to a crate on wheels. “I know you have other business to tend to, but please don’t take too long. The lives of all-”

“-all of Halcyon and the people on the Hope rely on me,” Sylas finished with a forced neutral face. “I know, Phineas. I’ll get it done.”

With that Sylas grabbed the crate and led them out of the lab and back to the ship. 

Was it necessary to remind him that the success of this mission was on his shoulders? It wasn’t like Sylas didn’t have a close personal stake in saving the occupants of the Hope?

Ellie pulled on Max’s sleeve, causing him to fall to the back of the group. 

“We should talk,” she said as they boarded the ship and she walked into the cargo bay.

Max followed her in between a few shelves of mechanical parts.

“So? Anything worth while?”

“He seems devoted enough to this cause, but he does have several specific research files heavily protected in comparison to the laughable protection he gives the rest of his internal information,” Max informed. 

"What do you think they are?”

“I would guess failed human trials? Hard to tell, his notes are as badly organized as the lab itself.”

“Yeah, it definitely isn’t the most sterile environment to be performing medical procedures,” Ellie agreed. “Anything interesting on the Captain?”

Max considered for a moment telling Ellie about the involuntary time dilation. But Sylas did have a decent knowledge of medicine, so maybe he didn’t share because he didn’t think Ellie could help with it?

“Nothing that Sylas didn’t already tell us himself, with a bit more jargon,” Max lied with a shrug. 

If Ellie didn’t believe him, she didn’t show it. 

“Well, we’ll keep an eye out. Stealing chemicals right from under the Minister’s nose is a tall order for a former teacher,” Ellie pointed out.

“We- he has some time to plan,” Max replied. If things went well on Scylla, he wouldn’t be a part of that heist. 

Part of him wished he would be.

  
  
  


Felix grabbed the back handle of Sylas’s crate as they carried it upstairs into his quarters and set it next to the desk. ADA said she would be fine getting out of trackable range of the lab herself, which Felix appreciated. 

Dr.Welles wanted Sylas to do a crazy infiltration into the capital and steal a bunch of chemicals from the minister. Sylas was amazing at doing this crazy work, but that seemed a bit much to ask for. 

But Sylas said yes anyways.

“Thanks for helping me bring it up here,” Sylas said, now just staring at the box. 

“You going to open it?” Felix asked. 

"I- I don’t know?” Sylas admitted. “I don’t know what’s inside.”

“Do you not remember what you packed?” Felix asked. “It’s your crate…”

“I wasn’t the one who put it together,” Sylas explained. “My brother and I signed on really close to the deadline and I needed to have my surgeries done and mostly healed before going into cryo, so my mom packed it while I was recovering…”

Right, he had traded his servitude to Auntie Cleos in exchange for a hormone converter implant and his top surgery. He hadn’t really thought about how Sylas was different before coming to Halcyon. Not that it mattered, he was Sylas now and was Sylas then. 

And he liked the person who Sylas was now. 

“What do you think is inside?”

“I think I asked her to pack a data cart with some music…” Sylas replied. “But honestly I don’t remember what she said was in there. I was on a lot of medication…”

“You don’t have to open it,” Felix said with a shrug. “Or I could open it for you if you’re too scared to.”

“I’m not scared to open a crate!” Sylas shot back, puffing up. “I just don’t know how I will react to what’s inside.”

“I’ll be here if you want some support,” Felix replied, taking a step towards him and rubbing his back. 

Sylas nodded, leaning into Felix, still looking at the crate. 

“Do you want a distraction?”

Sylas nodded.

Felix smiled, leading Sylas to the bed and sitting him down before grabbing an extra blanket to drape over the crate. 

“There, outta sight, outta mind,” Felix said before returning to Sylas and kneeling in front of him, hands moving to undo Sy’s belt. 

“Felix, I don’t know if this is-”

“I haven’t gotten to show how much I appreciate you riding a raptidon to save my ass,” Felix interrupted, stopping his hands, but not moving away. “But if you don't want this, we can do something else.”

It was weird, saying all this aloud beforehand. Everyone else he had slept with before had been more than willing to just go with the flow, but Sylas was different. It wasn’t bad, just needed more care than he was used to. 

Sylas made eye contact with him for what seemed like a long time before taking a deep breath and leaning back. Felix’s heart picked up pace as Sylas tried to relax.

“Take it slow,” Sylas said softly. “Please.”

“Can do, boss,” Felix replied, getting back to undoing Sylas’s pants and pulling them off to reveal his boxers underneath. 

“Please don’t call me boss while we are doing this,” Sylas said. “Feels like I’m taking advantage.”

Felix hadn’t thought about that. 

“Right, sorry Sy.”

“It’s fine. We’re working through this together.”

Felix let his fingers trail down Sylas’s thighs with just enough pressure to feel the strong muscle underneath the surface. He leaned forward, trailing kisses over the scars that darted across the trail of dark brown hair that led from his navel below the waistband of his boxers. 

Sylas took in a sharp breath before releasing it slowly, laying completely down and letting his hips hang off the side of the bunk slightly. 

Felix continued to kiss Sylas’s stomach, hands moving up to pull down his underwear and gently push his legs apart to give Felix more room to work. 

Felix pulled back, looking up to see Sylas covering his eyes with his forearm. 

“Everything feel alright?” Felix asked, kneading his thumbs into the inside of Sylas’s thighs as he waited for a response. 

“Mhmmm,” Sylas hummed, giving Felix a thumbs up. 

Felix took that as a good sign that Sylas was actually enjoying this rather than just humoring him and moved to trailing his fingers through the wiry hair on Sylas’s mound and down the sides of his lips. He avoided the large clit poking out between Sylas’s folds for now, reminding himself that Sylas asked him to take it slow. 

He was doing this for Sy, no matter how much the tent in his pants protested.

Felix moved in, spreading Sylas with two fingers as he licked a wide stripe along his inner folds, his nose pressed against his clit. The taste was less than pleasant, but it was made up for when Sylas tensed and whined into his arm, legs coming up to hold Felix in place. 

Lapping up and down spaced by long, flat swipes with his tongue, Felix wrapped his arms under Sylas’s legs and held onto Sylas’s hips as he picked up the pace. 

He lost track of how long he had spent with his face between Sylas’s legs, but he stopped immediately when Sylas finally spoke up.

“Hold on,” Sylas said, his voice shaky as he tried to control his breathing. “What about you?” 

He sounded like he could barely put two thoughts together, let alone two words.

“M’ fine,” Felix replied, laying a few kisses on his thighs, wanting to make sure he didn’t continue without an enthusiastic go ahead.

“But I’m not if you aren’t getting something out of this too,” Sylas replied, putting his legs down and propping himself up on his elbows. His face was flushed red and his pupils were blown. “So hurry up and get up here.”

Felix laughed and quickly stripped off his clothes, his cock bobbing free from his underwear. He was a lot harder than he had realized, and was quietly thankful that Sylas was now wanting to go all the way. 

Once he was free of his clothes, he realized Sylas still had his shirt on, the bottom scrunched up just below his chest. Felix kneeled down, earning a confused look before he trailed kisses form Sylas’s belly button up as he peeled his shirt off. Sylas threw it across the room once he untangled it from his arms. 

“Do you have a condom?” Felix asked between kissing Sylas at the base of his jaw and sucking at the crook of his neck. 

“Don’t got that part anymore,” Sylas replied, placing his hands on Felix’s hips and turning them both to lay fully on the mattress. “Still want one?”

“Nah,” Felix said, capturing Sylas’s mouth in a hungry kiss before pulling back, trying not to grind down onto him just yet. “Didn’t want to assume. Surgery is expensive.”

He remembered sleeping with one guy like Sylas on Groundbreaker. Some dude who had come on a freighter from another colony, but couldn’t afford getting that part removed. 

“A ten year trip to a new colony is a big commitment,” Sylas murmured, pulling back enough to speak without their mouths pressed together. 

Felix tried to sear this image into his mind. Sylas’s hair fanned around his head as he looked right into Felix’s eyes and his lips red and wet. 

He could feel just how much Sylas was wanting this to build a connection. He wasn’t in it for himself. 

Before Felix could lose his focus and come right then, he quickly pulled back and lined himself up. 

“Ready?”

“Slow,” Sylas replied, closing his eyes. 

Felix entered him, holding himself back from just plowing ahead. Each inch was excruciating, his brain on fire as he entered Sylas’s heat. Sylas held onto him tight, face buried in the crook of his neck, trying to keep steady breaths as Felix bottomed out and waited for him to adjust. It seemed like forever with Sylas contracting around him, but eventually Sylas gave him a few pats to signal to go ahead. 

Felix pulled out slowly before pressing in, enjoying the friction between himself and Sylas. This was different than most of the times he had with other people in the Back Bays. Usually it was an attempt to get off in the quickest time possible and then heading back to whatever you were doing before. 

It was hard taking things slow, but Felix wanted to make sure this was the best experience Sylas could have. And, deep down he knew Sylas would probably never be as into doing this as Felix was, but the connection Felix had with touching as much as Sylas as he physically could and Sylas enjoying it? 

It was like those explicit romance videos he would rent sometimes made it sound like. 

Felix felt the pressure build in his abdomen, knowing he was close. He moved a hand down to stroke Sylas in time with his thrusts, earning a sharp intake of breath and a small moan. 

“‘M close,” Felix barely got out, his thrusts growing more forceful and erratic. 

“C’mere,” Sylas breathed, placing a hand on the back of his head and lacing a finger through Felix’s hair as he guided Felix into a deep kiss. 

Sylas may have not been interested in sex, but he sure knew what to do to push all of Felix’s buttons. The pressure in Felix’s groin released as he came, his hand still rubbing Sylas until he felt the man below him tense and the walls around Felix contract in a rhythm. Sylas’s muscles contracted around Felix, holding him as close as possible with the strength of a vice. 

Felix wasn’t sure when the last time he felt so wanted. 

They slowly untangled from each other, switching to laying side by side as comfortably as possible in the small bed as they basked in the afterglow.

“Good distraction?” Felix asked, fingertips tracing the veins in Sylas’s hands. 

Sylas watched Felix’s fingers instead of making eye contact, thinking about his answer. 

“It was… nice,” Sylas finally said after a few moments. Felix didn’t realize that he had taken a quick breath until Sylas looked up to him, fear in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I did enjoy it! I really did, I just wish I could give you mor-”

“I’ll take whatever you are able to give,” Felix interrupted, brushing some hair out of Sylas’s face. “It was great, thank you for being comfortable enough to let me.”

Sylas scooted forward, burying his face in Felix’s chest. 

“Thank you for being you.”

Felix nearly choked on the fuzzy feeling that filled his chest at that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I know it's been a bit since I last posted. A lot has been going on and I was definitely burnt out a bit after writing so much for nanowrimo this year. Hopefully this long chapter with wholesome sexy times at the end make up for it!


	20. Chapter 20

“Fucking hell!” Sylas growled, shaking his hand free of the pain of a burn for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

“Again, Sy?” Parvati asked, her masked head popping up from the other side of the adjustable bed platform. “Maybe I should just do the welding and you work on assemblin’ the next one?”

Sylas sighed, knowing that they had spent all day trying to put these kits into the crew quarters. It gave them a slightly bigger sleeping space and storage underneath the old bunk. The only drawback was that they had to keep the area around the bed clear or they couldn’t sleep. 

“It would have been nice if we didn’t have make our own fucking mounts,” Sylas replied, rubbing his face. They had spent all morning figuring out how to actually attach the blasted things in Parvati’s bunk and then had to spend another half hour patching up all the sharp edges they had made in the process. 

“Yeah, well, that doesn’t mean you need to go cussin’ up a storm,” Parvati replied, going back to welding. 

She was right. It wasn’t her fault he didn’t look more closely at the kits. At least they were on the second to last kit. 

“I’m sorry for snapping,” Sylas replied, leaning against the wall. 

“I know,” Parvati said in between showers of sparks. “Just gotta give you enough time to cool down.”

“You’re a saint for dealing with all the hot heads on this ship,” Sylas said, picking up his torch again and getting back to work on his side of the bed. 

“I didn’t study enough science in school to qualify to be a saint,” Parvati joked as she finished up. “But I’m glad you think so.” 

Sylas rolled his eyes, knowing that she wouldn’t lie about something like that with all the odd custom’s OSI promoted.

“How was Junlei?” Sylas asked, realizing that it had been nearly a day and hadn’t checked in. “I know it was a short pitstop, but she wasn’t super busy, was she?”

“We got to talk a bit while she was on break, but the mantipillars we helped clear out are still lingering and she has been having issues finishing them off,” Parvati replied with a shrug. “So usual captain stuff. But don’t start talking about my time when you spent all last night with Felix in your room.”

Sylas gave an embarrassed laugh, glad that the welding mask covered his reddening cheeks. She was using the tone of voice when she wanted gossip or someone got together on one of her serials. 

“Did you two… you know?” Parvati asked with a little head wiggle. “Felix was in a real good mood this morning.”

“Yeah, we did,” Sylas replied, peeking back to see if anyone was listening to their conversation. It wasn’t like he was ashamed of their relationship, but it was a private thing. Parvati knowing was different from someone like Ellie knowing. 

“I didn’t think you would…” Parvati whispered, catching on. “Not so soon, anyway. I know we’re not exactly the same in that regard, but we are similar.”

Sylas nodded, knowing what she meant. While she never had been interested in sleeping with someone, Sylas had been a couple times. When he had gotten close to a few people he had dated for a long time, the urge would start every so often. It was only towards that person and it never was very often. 

That was the deal breaker for a lot of his former partners. They could handle dating without sex, but dating with sex on a sporadic time frame? To them it might as well have been baiting. 

“I did come onto him while I was drunk…”

“So?”

“And I did want to at that time, but I also didn’t,” Sylas explained. He hadn’t really talked about this with anyone before. “Yesterday I was freaking out about my crate and he offered to distract me and then…” Sylas continued, ending with a shrug.

“And are okay with that?” Parvati asked, looking worried. They had so many similar experiences with people not respecting their wishes that he knew she just wanted what was best. 

“Yeah, I am,” Sylas replied after finishing up a seam. “He was really careful and made sure I was comfortable the whole time. It was… nice. He enjoyed it, so that’s a plus.”

“Good, because otherwise I would have to give him a good wallop to set him straight,” Parvati said with a nod, going back to her work. 

Sylas laughed, getting back to work. It was nice to have someone understand for once. He would do the same to Junlei if she took advantage of Parvati, access to Groundbreaker be damned. Luckily, they both seemed to find good people. 

He definitely could have been dealt a worse hand given what he started with when waking up.

  
  
  
  


Max was testing the support of his new sleeping arrangement when he heard a knock on the metal of his doorframe. He turned to find Sylas standing with a glass in one hand and an unopened bottle of Glacier Aged whiskey in the other. 

“You left your glass in my room and I thought I’d come return it with interest,” Sylas said with a small smirk. His hair was damp and pushed back and he wasn’t wearing his glasses. “Is it up to your standards?”

“It seems to be a better situation than before, despite the amount of swearing putting it together brought about,” Max replied, placing the bed in the upright position and locking it in place. “Thank you for bringing my glass back.”

Sylas took his usual place at the table across from Max’s seat as Max pulled his glass from a cabinet. Sylas poured a generous amount of liquid into both glasses before leaving the open bottle within both of their reach.

“Not a problem. It’s the nicest drinking vessel on this ship, so I’m sure you’d want it back before we drop you off.”

“Assuming I get dropped off,” Max added, swirling the amber liquid in his glass.

“Assuming we drop you off,” Sylas repeated. “Do you think this hermit has the info you want?”

That was quite the initiating question. There would be no small talk tonight. 

Maybe the captain would answer questions about his condition once he loosened up. 

“I think that she may have useful information. I do not know what we would have to do in exchange for a translation.”

“Assuming she even knows French,” Sylas pointed out. “She might have just been a collector.”

“Then I follow the paper trail where it goes,” Max replied simply. It wasn’t any harder than anything he had already dealt with, but he wasn’t getting any younger.

“How far will you go?”

“Until I find the answer or I die, I suppose,” Max said, taking a sip. The flavor was richer than usual. This was an older bottle and had time to age. 

A good alcohol to share when goodbye was coming swiftly. 

Sylas hummed, taking a drink himself as he stared at the bottle. 

“You have many tasks on your plate. Why are you going out of your way to take me to Scylla now?” Max asked, looking at the man before him. If he was to succeed, he would have to persevere through many more hardships than those he had already outlasted. 

“Why not? You’ve waited for this a long time. The people on the Hope aren’t going anywhere,” Sylas responded after a moment, but the hesitation made the truth clear. 

He didn’t want to go into the capital to further this quest he was sent on. 

“That’s one less person to help you on your mission,” Max argued. 

“I’d say that you’ve helped more than enough to warrant being able to find your peace,” Sylas countered. “Don’t you deserve a break?”

“Don’t you?”

The conflict on Sylas’s face was expected. Sylas was a reclusive man when he didn’t have to be out and going to finish business right away was not in his nature, no matter how much he had at stake. Max didn’t expect to feel remorse for bringing the topic up. 

He didn’t want to hurt Sylas, emotionally or otherwise, but the captain had to deal with everything on his plate sooner or later. But people broke down without some kind of reprieve, whether it was getting lost in serials or alcohol or people. 

By the sounds coming from the door to the Captain’s quarters the night before, Sylas was making his way around.

“I accessed some of Dr.Welles’s files yesterday while you were talking to him,” Max said, changing the subject. He had at least planted the seed and hopefully it would sprout. 

“Find anything interesting?”

“He is very disorganized, and his filing system proves that.”

Sylas tilted his head to the side with an eyebrow cocked. 

“How so?”

“He had his trials organized by Cysty pig, you, and then several numbers that were password protected,” Max explained. “He password protected files on an internal system that he barely protected anything else on.”

“What do you think they are?” Sylas asked, leaning forward. Now he was interested in this mission.

“Based on file dates? His other human trials.”

Sylas took a deep breath, leaning back and downing the rest of his whiskey and refilled the glass. 

“I knew it would have been too good to be true that I was the first,” Sylas muttered. “How many numbered files?”

“Twelve or so.”

“Fuck.”

“It is a small sample size, so I would say it could be worse,” Max said with a shrug. 

“But where did he get the other people?” Sylas asked. “This is supposed to be a procedure to thaw people after well past the time allowed for success. What did he do with the bodies?”

“He has been called a butcher,” Max replied. “Where he got his test subjects, I don’t know. I didn’t have enough time to dig.”

“Thank you for telling me,” Sylas said quietly. “Anything else?”

“I looked at your file,” Max continued, knowing he had promised that he wouldn’t lie to the captain after Chaney. “You don’t get panic attacks.”

Sylas face fell, but Max knew that it was probably a matter of time before something happened. 

At least it was him and not someone else. 

Sylas stood for a moment to close the door before returning to his seat, eyes watching the amber fluid in his glass. 

“No, no I don’t.”

“Why didn’t you mention that when you explained your power or whatever it is?”

“Because I don’t know what it is? Because I don’t know how to stop it?” Sylas offered. “Because I didn’t want to worry everyone.”

“You didn’t want to be a liability?”

“I’m rarely useful as is,” Sylas said bitterly. “The only reason I do so well when out in the wild is because of the fucking time shit.”

“I doubt Sanjar and Zora would say the same,” Max replied, his tone soft. This wasn’t a time for hard realizations. He brought those upon himself easily enough. 

“At least I’m useful to you. Or my ship is.”

He was useful to Max, true. 

“That’s not all that can be important in life,” Max replied. “Being useful, that is.”

“Those sound like the words of a heretic,” Sylas pointed out. 

“Says the man who called both sides of the debate ‘batshit crazy,” Max retorted. “The philosophists have some nice ideas, but it isn’t something you base a life around.”

“And fighting for dominance is? Fighting to be the strongest? Fighting to work for the rest of your life?” Sylas argued. “It doesn’t have to be one extreme or the other.”

“A balance,” Max mused, his thoughts fleeting to the idea of the three of them together before he pushed it away. “But you aren’t allowed that?”

“Got too much to do.”

“You fit into Halcyon better than I thought,” he teased. 

“Don’t remind me,” Sylas replied with a small groan. 

“Not enough to please the Board, I assure you,” Max consoled. Felix may have been rubbing off on Sylas just as much as the other way around. “Just enough to be relatable.”

“Thanks, I think?”

Max sighed to himself, knowing that he would miss these conversations. Sylas was easy to talk to without being boring. 

“It was a complement,” Max clarified. 

Sylas nodded, looking to his lap.

“That means a lot, Max.”

“Anytime.”

  
  
  


Felix laid in Sylas’s bunk, knowing he could be upstairs stretching out in his new bed. It was a nice addition, even if he had to tidy up for Sy and Parvati to put it in. 

But he had his data pad here and it smelled like his boyfriend, so laying curled up was pretty good.

Why Sylas didn’t get himself one of the beds was weird, but it was his room on his ship, so Felix wasn’t going to question it. Maybe he had other plans? There was a pile of miscellaneous kit parts sitting in the corner that weren't there this morning…

If they were to repeat last night, a bigger bed would really help. 

His brain wandered to the night before instead of reading the book Ellie thought he should start on before any of the ones Max had. She said he needed the basics or something first and he didn’t want to take any of Max’s precious books if he was going to leave soon.

Sy really did seem to enjoy himself, even if he didn’t know how to express it like other people. Maybe it really could be a long term thing?

Felix’s chest felt weird at the thought of what the long term thing could be. He never thought he would want to get married…

What was he thinking? They had been dating for like two weeks and slept together for the first time the night before. 

Plus who needed to sign a marriage contract anyway? It was just a signoff by the Board saying you were together. 

They knew they were together. That was enough.

His data pad pinged, showing he got a new message. Did Nell send him a recording of the Hammers versus Darlings game?

He opened the message, not finding the video he expected. 

_Hullhead,_

_Heard you made it off Groundbreaker. I know it’s been a while, but we need to talk. I’m on Scylla. It’s urgent._

_-CH_

Felix sat up and rubbed his eyes, rereading the message. CH?

Clyde Harlow was reaching out? Now, after 5 years of aether silence? 

He had been on a mission to eradicate the Board, so he must have needed some kind of help, especially if it was urgent. 

Below the message were a set of coordinates which he could give to ADA.

Assuming the boss even would let him help. They were on a mission of their own, even if they were on a detour to help out Max. But better now than later, since they would be on Scylla already?

The door to the room opened as Sy walked in, slight frown on his face before he saw Felix. Felix could tell the smile he put on was mostly for show, his shoulders still tense from whatever thoughts were on his mind before. 

“Hey boss, I’ve got a hypothetical for you,” Felix asked, placing the data pad on his lap.

“You know you can ask me anything without framing it like a hypothetical, right?” Sylas asked in turn, a small smile on his face as he leaned against the desk. He was already too good at reading Felix’s tells for his own good. “Especially if it pertains to your studies.”

“It doesn't have to do with my reading,” Felix said with a shake of his head. “ Look, I’ve got a friend. I knew him when I was growing up and we were close, but then one day he up and vanished. It’s been five years since I heard from him and he just sent me a message just out of the aether…”

“How’d he find you?” Sylas asked, his tone growing more serious as he crossed his arms. “What’s his name and what’s he want?”

Felix knew that look. Sylas was getting protective. But this was Clyde.

“Just said he heard I left Groundbreaker. We haven’t exactly been sneaky about where we’ve been going, Sy,” Felix pointed out. “His name’s Clyde Harlow and he was probably my first and longest friend. Looked out for me when a lot of others wouldn’t.”

Sylas relaxed, leaning back and motioned for him to continue.

“He says he’s on Scylla and that he needs to talk to me…”

“And do you want to talk to him?” Sylas asked.

Felix didn’t really think that he had the option. Clyde had done right by him when he was around, so there wasn’t any reason not to go see him.

“I don’t know what he wants, but it couldn’t hurt to go see him and hear him out,” Felix replied. “Plus, when’s the next time you plan on making the trek out here?”

Sylas thought for a moment, looking at the papers on his desk. 

“Alright, we’ll go see your friend, but we need to help Max first,” Sylas agreed. “I can tell Harlow is important to you, but Max is crew.”

“Oh, that’s fine. He didn’t reach out for five years, he can wait another few hours or however long it takes to figure out Max’s book,” Felix replied. “What's with all the metal scraps in here? The cargo hold isn’t that full…”

Sylas grinned, coming so sit on the bed near Felix’s feet. 

“So, the guy who sold the kits didn’t have one that I thought would be big enough for in here, but he had some bits and pieces he was willing to throw in with the order, so I’m gonna throw something together in the corner,” Sylas explained, pointing to the empty corner on the other side of the bunk opposite to the door. “And we have a lot of extra mattresses now, so I can get SAM to wash them and use them to make a big bed!”

“Wait, really?” Felix asked, eyes growing wide. He had never even considered building a whole bed and putting mattresses together. 

“Well, if you’re going to start sleeping in here all the time, might as well make it to where we can stretch out if we want…”

“You’re too good,” Felix said, getting up on his knees so he could lean and pull Sylas into a kiss. 

“I mean, thanks, but I probably would have done it anyway even if we weren’t together,” Sylas teased against Felix’s lips, a smirk growing. “I’m quite the bed hog.”

Felix smacked him lightly as he pulled back to glare, but it wasn’t long before he returned to his previous activity.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dysphoria warning in second scene.

Max was waiting in the airlock as Sylas and Felix came down the stairs in their armor, weapons at the ready. It was time, Bakonu’s book safely tucked in his bag. If he was to stay on Scylla, Sylas offered to help him unload the rest of his belongings. 

There was no reason to trust Chaney’s word, and, even if he needed to get other means of transport, he would track down that lying son-of-a-bitch and beat him to a pulp if he had lied. 

But now they were on an corporately abandoned asteroid, home to outlaws, primals, and a hermit. 

“You ready to face the Plan?” Sylas asked as they rode the elevator down.

“The Plan doesn’t care whether I am ready or not,” Max replied, pulling his shotgun out as he saw people on the road in the distance. “So why should I worry?”

Sylas didn’t reply before stationing himself behind cover and picking off the closest outlaws ahead. Max didn’t mind, knowing that this wasn’t the time for them to argue in circles. 

The trek to the edge of the habitable zone was quiet beyond the encounters with ruffians as they made their way to the entrance of the old mining operation. In the distance, other shots could be heard, but Nyoka had mentioned that she wanted to hunt for primal glands while they were here for her mission. 

Around the side of the main office stood a smaller building with curated flowers from Terra 2 growing outside. 

“This is it, I think,” Sylas said quietly, heading up and knocking on the door. 

Felix tensed, hands tightening around the handle to his gun. A defense mechanism no doubt.

It didn’t take long for the door to open, revealing an aging woman in faded vestments. They must have been an OSI issue at one point, but the familiar blue was bleached by wear and exposure. 

“What have the solar winds deposited on my doorstep today?” the woman asked in a wistful voice that grated on Max’s nerves. 

But he had to play nice if he was to get what he wanted. 

“We’ve been told this was once yours,” Max said, stepping forward as he pulled out Bakonus journal. “I believe the knowledge I seek is within the pages of this book- knowledge on how to free men's minds from toil.” 

The hermit sighed, opening the door for them to come in. 

“More truth seekers,” she said as they filed into the small kitchen and dining area. “It would have been much more interesting if you were here to rob me.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Sylas replied. “The book is in French and we were hoping you could translate it.”

“I could, but it wouldn’t do your friend here any good,” the hermit said with a small shrug before turning to Max. “I can see you’re a man in a hurry, and the insights in that book would take you years of study to fully comprehend.”

Who did this woman think she was to be questioning his devotion to his cause?! Just because she walked away from the Path, as her vestments suggested, didn’t mean that this book didn’t have insights OSI could use!

“I have spent my whole life in contemplation,” Max replied, trying to keep his tone as calm as he could. “I believe my mind is prepared and able to receive the truth. I, however, do not have the time to learn the language and translate it myself.”

The hermit closed her eyes with a sigh, seemingly having already grown tired of their presence. Max was just about ready to leave when Sylas caught his arm and pleaded with the woman.

“Please, we have come a long way for this. Is there anything you could do to help?” he said. “I’m willing to offer my services as a trader and ship for hire in exchange.”

The woman narrowed her eyes, studying Sylas before turning to Max.

“There is one way that might work to speed up the process,” the hermit offered. “It involves several ingredients, some of which can be fatal. It is not for the faint of heart or the unprepared.”

“And if you’re unprepared?” Sylas asked. 

Max did wonder himself, though he had a gut feeling that he knew what the hermit was alluding to. 

“Severe nausea and fainting if it’s mild. Loss of sanity, coma, and possible death in the worst cases.”

“So you’re gonna give us weird drugs?” Felix asked from his place leaning against the wall. 

“Physically, yes,” the hermit replied before Max could chastise Felix. “But the drugs are only needed to allow your mind to see the truth.”

“I’ll do it,” Max said. 

“Is that really the best idea?” Sylas countered, looking at Max with genuine fear in his eyes. “I know you think you’re-”

“I believe he may be right about being ready,” the hermit interrupted, smiling for the first time since they had arrived. “There is both peace and violence warring inside you, Max. This process would be extremely tenuous for one such as yourself. Less so for your friends.”

Max frowned. He hadn’t come this far to just back down at the possibility of death. He had been confronted with dying in prison and in his adventures with the captain. If he died, he would return to the universe. 

“I am committed, no matter the cost,” Max replied with a nod. 

Sylas was about to interject again before Felix laid a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

“Alright, I’m in too,” Sylas said. 

“I’m not going to be the only one to not get high,” Felix said with a shrug. 

“The meditation room is down the hall,” the hermit replied, turning to begin preparing some food for herself. “Partake in the sacramental incense. It’s waiting on the table when you’re ready. And leave your belongings and armor in here please.”

Max nodded, taking off his armor and placing it in a neat pile with his other items as his companions did the same. This was it. 

It was time to face the truth.

  
  
  


Maybe agreeing to stick with Max on this was a bad idea. 

As soon as Sylas breathed in the incense, the room began to spin and his stomach turned with it. He was immediately nauseated, his breakfast threatening to come up. He took several deep breaths, closing his eyes as he heard Max and Felix both take their hit’s of whatever concoction was in that smoke.

When he opened his eyes again, the world room had stopped spinning, but now was split into two visions slightly offset by one another. It reminded him of the old movies that were made to be watched with 3D glasses before they scrapped that and moved to holograms. The smoke turned a swirling mass of blues and reds and greens. Silhouettes of people formed out of the smoke and quickly fell apart again. 

Thankfully, both Felix and Max seemed to have the same reaction, looking around in confusion. 

Hopefully the Hermit wasn’t some murderer because they would be no good in a fight, even if they had their weapons. 

“Poor, poor Maximillian,” said a voice coming out of the smoke. Soon, an apparition of a woman with red hair materialised, looking at Max with a slightly disapproving frown. “Why are you still doing this? You’ve been fighting against the world since before you left home.”

Sylas looked to Max, who stood in shock as he looked at the woman before him. 

“Haven’t you figured out yet that the more you fight, the more pain you cause yourself?” the woman continued. She didn’t seem all that surprised that Max was there, searching for his truth. 

In the smoke, other figures moved in and out of Sylas's view. People he recognized: Todd, his mother and father, others he remembered the faces of but not who they were. But there were others he didn’t recognize. What the hell was this drug?

“Mother? You’re dead. You can’t be here,” Max growled, looking at the woman. "I knew this was too good to be true! These are just some cheap hallucinogens that have-” 

Max cut off in a fit of coughing. 

“I don't know if they are cheap,” Sylas murmured, looking between the apparition and Max. “I see her too…”

“What’s happening to your voice?” Max asked, confusion spelled out on his face. “What’s happening to my voice? Does my voice sound weird to you?”

“What’s wrong, Max? Can’t think straight?” Felix asked, sitting down on one of the chairs in the room. “Now you know how I feel- er, wait. Forget I said that.”

Sylas giggled. Felix said the funniest things sometimes. Of course he isn't straight, they were dating as two men.

But did that mean Felix knew something about Max that Sylas didn’t?

“We are obviously the victims of a tasteless joke being perpetuated- perpetrated?- we’re being made fools of,” Max tried to get out, having difficulty. “Aren’t we? When I get out of here-”

“Maximillian, always ready to give up, to lash out,” the apparition replied. “Always searching for answers, but always in the wrong place, never looking inside himself.”

“What? You look inside yourself all the time, Max,” Felix said with a laugh.” What with your head buried up your ass.”

“Felix!” Sylas shot back. He knew that was how Felix felt, but that didn’t mean that this was the time. “Max is the most introspective person I know… Chill with the platitudes.”

“And platitudes from a figment of my imagination, no less,” Max added, building from Sylas’s defense.

“Who said I wasn’t a figment of your mind?” the apparition replied. “You know the truth, you don’t need someone to tell you. You’ve always known it. Everyone knows it, they just won’t see it.”

Out of the smoke two more forms materialized, both of which he recognized. One was Felix, though Sylas barely recognized him. He was bruised and bleeding in the uniform he wore when they first met, but torn and stained. He sat curled on the ground. 

The other was Sylas before he transitioned. He had long waves of hair done up and wore a simple dress, a version of himself from when he graduated from his bachelor's degree. He stood with a forced smile on his face under what he knew was makeup he took hours to apply to get to look decent.

“We’re overwhelmed with stories from our earliest days, the stories others sell us and the stories we tell ourselves,” the three say in unison. Sylas felt his chest tighten at the sound of his old voice, making it hard to breathe in the already smoky room. His stomach churned as they continued. “These stories are how we try to make sense of our lives, but they are not real, are they? They’re just stories. You need to drop your story and see the truth.”

The apparition of Sylas then leaned down, taking the hand of Felix’s apparition and leading him back into the smoke, leaving Max’s mother standing alone. 

Sylas looked to Felix, who looked shocked until his gaze fell on Max, standing frozen in the face of his mother. He opened his mouth to speak, but Sylas stepped towards him and accidentally crashed into him. It distracted Felix enough to keep him from saying whatever mean thing he probably was about to say.

“I don’t understand,” Max pleaded, “You want me to give up my- my discipline? My control? But I can’t! Without order there is chaos.”

He wasn’t wrong, but Sylas realized he was having the same argument with the communal hallucination as they had during their discussions over alcohol. 

“You need to love the chaos, Maximillian,” the apparition replied. “Let it envelop you, take you where it will. Besides, you really have no choice anyway.”

Envelop was a bit extreme, but Sylas agreed for the most part. They were all afloat on the whims of the universe, but that didn’t mean that they couldn’t fight to make things better despite the odds. 

“No, that’s not true!” Max shot back, sounding frustrated. “The basis of everything is order, not chaos!”

“Max-” Sylas started.

“No! This isn’t the time for our arguing,” Max interjected, looking at Sylas with anger in his eyes. “It’s true, I know it. And so did you,” he turned to the apparition. “Why are you denying it? Before you died, the Plan made you happy!”

Max was starting to unravel, his legs beginning to shake. Whether it was with rage or fear, Sylas wasn’t sure. 

“No, it didn’t,” his mother said simply. “I made myself happy. There is nothing holding yourself back but you.”

In the shadows behind the apparition, more solid forms came about. Max standing between two others, arms around both of them as he kissed one of their heads. They looked familiar, but Sylas’s nausea was starting to spike and before he could get a good look, they were gone. 

“If you can’t understand that, you will never understand anything,” Max’s mother continued, before slowly dissolving. “Goodbye, Maximilian.”

And like that they were alone for the moment. 

“This whole thing, it’s- it’s just a farce, right?” Max asked, looking to Sylas.

Sylas couldn’t remember ever seeing Max look afraid. Disappointed in himself? Definitely when Sylas left the canyon in Fallbrook after talking to Chaney. Distant? All the time when Sylas would catch him deep in thought. 

But never afraid.

“I don’t know, Max,” Sylas hesitated, looking at Felix, who stood still in Sylas’s grasp. Sylas let go, crossing the room to place a hand on Max’s shoulder. “This is all crazy.”

Sylas wasn’t going to draw attention to his own apparition right now, no matter how much seeing who he used to be threw him off.

“It has to be my own brain working against me,” Max continued.

“You couldn’t be more right,” came Max’s voice, but not from the man in front of him. 

Out of the smoke came another apparition, taking the form of Max with the irisless blue eyes to match his mother. 

“Hello, Max,” the apparition said with the slight grin that Sylas knew so well.

“What? Who?” Max stuttered. “Why do you look like me? Are you me?”

“Not really,” the apparition said with a slight shrug, his voice calm and confident without the smugness that usually tinged Max’s voice when he talked like this. “I’m who you think you are. I am disciplined. Controlled. I have no doubts.”

But Max was also all those things. Or he seemed like he was those things. 

Except when he was angry. 

He was definitely not controlled when faced with Chaney. 

From behind the Not-Max came two other figures, their voices following the Not-Max’s. One was Felix again, but this time he stood with a large flag over his shoulder with the iconoclast symbol on it and in armor with several awards adorning its front. 

“I am a natural leader and those who follow me always succeed because of my strategies. I have no doubts.”

The other, Sylas didn’t know, but he could see all the hopes he had for himself in them. The Not-Sylas was taller and held himself with a confidence Sylas could never achieve.

“I am self assured and steadfast in my decisions. I do not hesitate to do the right thing when other’s lives are on the line. I have no doubts.”

That was the person who should have been saving Halcyon. 

“I don’t exist,” the three said in unison, their voices reverberating together as their pupiless blue eyes stared unblinking. “And yet you have judged yourself against me all your life. Why do you berate yourself for not being me?”

“Yeah, Max, why do you do that?” Felix asked, eyes darting from his own form staring him down to Max.

“Felix, stop,” Sylas ordered, avoiding his own mirrored image. He turned to Max. “If he does, he shouldn’t. He may be an ass, but he’s a better man than he gives himself credit for.”

Sylas wasn’t sure what was coming out of his own mouth until he said it, but he wasn’t being dishonest. Max was an ass. But he also obviously was devoted to his cause to help everyone, even if it initially started out to find peace for himself. He was misled and now he was looking for the right path, even if it wasn’t OSI’s path.

Max made eye contact with him for a moment before turning to the Not-Max.

“I- I don’t feel right. About this, not anymore,” Max said, pulling back towards the door. “I need to get out of here.”

“You asked for this,” the Not-Max said, moving closer to Max. “Why are you fighting it? The same reason as always? Fear of the unknown? Not having control?”

Sylas tried to move in between them, to shield him from this digging line of questions, but the Not-Sylas appeared right in front of him, blocking the path. 

“You agreed to join,” Not-Sylas said. “You can’t protect everyone. You can’t save them from themselves.”

“Hey, leave him alone!” Felix yelled, but Not-Felix stepped in the way.

“Always running head first into conflict without a second thought of who you hurt or who you will be hurt by.”

“You don’t have control,” the three apparitions said together. 

“That sounds like an answer,” Max said, looking between the ghosts of who they could be. “But I don’t understand. Is it wrong to try to be a gooder-better person?”

“But that’s not what you’re doing, is it?” the Not-Max replied. “You’re desperately trying to find a story to organize reality in your head, a story to control everything.”

“A story to understand why the people around you didn’t see you the way you saw yourself,” Not-Sylas added.

“A story to prove you worthy of keeping,” Not-Felix continued. 

“A new story of the happy you. The contented you. Me,” the trio finished.

Sylas took a step back, bumping against one of the small tables. His stomach began to churn faster as he looked into the expressionless eyes of his double. He wanted to leave. To run and not come back. 

He also would probably need to throw up soon.

“That’s not- it can’t be right,” Max defended. “I’ve only been searching for the answer to the Equation. Because it will set us free, won’t it?”

“By removing the need to make any decision?” the Not-Max questioned as the Not-Sylas and the Not-Felix dispersed and returned to the churning smoke of the room. “To have your life completely controlled? The illusion of certainty? Your obsession allowed you to avoid the real question: who are you?”

“I’m Max. ME!” Max replied, growing hysterical. “I’m real, you can’t convince me otherwise… please don’t convince me I’m not.”

Sylas took a short breath, trying to stay present. Max was sounding terrified and Felix seemed to be lulling to sleep into one of the couches.

“You are real, Max!” Sylas defended.

“Your individual ‘self’ is what’s not real,” the Not-Max explained. “It is simply a concept.”

While Sylas’s stomach had been skeptical from the beginning, Sylas agreed for the most part what had been brought up by these hallucinations. They all had problems that they needed to work towards, but this explanation was going too far. Just because something was a concept didn’t mean it wasn’t important.

However, Sylas’s stomach was giving up on the conversation entirely and Sylas had to rush out and into the nearby bathroom to avoid hurling into one of the plant pots. 

After an extended session depositing the contents of his stomach into the toilet, Sylas slumped over, his vision closing in as he passed out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally here! It's taken a while, but we've gotten to Scylla! I hope you've enjoyed the modified hallucination scene. I know why they didn't do it in game, but it made more sence to me for everyone seeing each other's hallucinations.


	22. Chapter 22

Felix woke in an unfamiliar room full of plants. He blinked himself awake as he remembered what had happened before he drifted off. 

Whatever was in that incense was intense and he had no desire to try it again. 

Max sat cross-legged on the floor, his eyes closed. He didn’t look angry or scared like before, when the ghosts were telling him his whole life had been a lie.

And Sylas was nowhere to be seen. 

“Hey,” Felix grunted, wiping the sleep from his eyes. 

“Ah, good. You’re awake,” Max replied with a smile, sounding too calm. “Sylas is in the other room. He fainted in the bathroom after vomiting in the toilet.”

Felix stared at Max for a moment, waiting for the punchline of whatever joke he was trying to pull. He had never seen Max acting so calm. 

“You… feeling okay?” Felix asked when no witty one liner came. 

“More than okay, actually,” Max replied, continuing to give Felix a soft smile that sent a shiver down his spine. “Everything is perfect.”

Felix blinked, not sure if he was dreaming or if some alien came and infested Max’s brain while Felix was asleep.

“I’m glad you had a good trip, I guess?” Felix hesitated, standing up slowly.

“Oh, no. I wouldn’t call it a good trip exactly,” Max corrected. “It was quite jarring, but it opened my mind enough to see the real truth. The illusions I built for myself fell away. I’m no longer interpreting, I’m experiencing.”

Okay, so maybe the drugs just broke Max a little because that phrasing did sound like his usual preaching. 

“Err, I’m glad you found what you were looking for.”

“Thank you, Felix,” Max replied, sounding genuine. “We should get the captain back to the ship. I do not think the incense meshed well with his other condition.”

“Wait, he’s still passed out?” Felix asked as he headed to the doorway. Set against the wall was Sylas, slumped against the pile of their things. 

“He should be fine once he wakes up,” the hermit said from her table, sipping on some tea. “He expelled the worst of it in the toilet.”

Felix still kneeled next to him as Max followed from the meditation room. Carrying both his mini-gun and Sylas would be really hard, but he couldn’t just leave either behind. 

“So, have you found your answers?” the hermit asked.

“Not so much as I finally listened,” Max replied, his voice still quieter than before. 

They sounded so similar now? What did that smoke do to him? 

“Yes, it is quite a convoluted maze we build for ourselves,” the hermit agreed. 

“I’m happy you made a friend, Max,” Felix said, putting his armor back on, “But we really should get Sy back to the ship instead of talking so Ellie can make sure he’s ok.”

“Right, of course,” Max said with a nod, donning his own armor. “My apologies.”

Felix would have to ask Sylas what the fuck happened when he woke up. He didn’t know how to deal with this new Max. He had just barely figured out how to handle the old one. 

“Words are overrated,” the hermit agreed. “But if you feel it is necessary for your sawbones to take a look at your friend, then be on your way.”

Felix didn’t need to be told twice, securing his gun on his back and picking Sylas up. He was used to hauling things around, but the combination was too much for even his experience and he nearly fell over.

“Son, I can carry the captain if you are willing to take point,” Max offered.

Did he want to offer Sylas over to this new Max? He seemed nice enough, but who knew what would happen. But at least Felix would have his gun in case Max did anything insane. 

They left after Felix handed Sy over, once again out on the cold surface of the asteroid. The mining camp wasn’t big, so he didn’t expect much resistance on the way back. 

He kept his gun ready all the same, his attention as focused on listening to make sure Max wasn’t doing anything weird as on the road ahead of them. The few times he glanced back, Max was looking around like he wasn’t the one who made the trip up to the Hermit’s house in the first place. 

It reminded him of Sylas looking at the plants on Monarch. 

Soon enough they were approaching the elevator to the landing pad, Nyoka standing on the edge looking down at them. 

“Did the cap’n get ambushed again?” she called down to Felix. 

“Nah, we got high on some weird incense and he puked before passing out,” Felix called back.

“You find what you were looking for, Max?” she asked, sending the lift down to them, her hands covered in what must have been primal blood. 

“In a way, yes, Ms.Ramnarim-Wentworth,” Max replied. “I am content now.”

“Hey, so it was a success,” Nyoka said with a shrug, picking up a big bag of fleshy chunks. “Glad to hear it. So you going to go share your discovery with OSI or whatever now?”

“No,” Max stated simply. “They wouldn’t accept it, even if it is the truth they seek out.”

Felix led the way back into the ship.

“Will you put him in bed? I’ll grab Ellie,” Felix asked, heading up the stairs. He hadn’t done anything bad on the way back, so maybe this change was genuine? That ghost Max must have really scared the shit outta him. “Ellie! Can you come check on Sy?”

“What did he get into this time?” she asked, coming out of her room with her med-bag in hand. 

“Some weird incense that gave us all hallucinations,” Felix explained as she approached, stopping her before she could head down to the captain’s room. “Max isn’t acting right either. But I think that was what he wanted.”

Ellie cocked an eyebrow at him, but gave a slight nod. He thanked the universe that she understood the severity of the situation. 

The other ghosts were scary as well, talking like they knew everything. Of course none of them had control over everything, but that didn’t mean they shouldn’t try. 

Did Max just give up?

Max knew when to stand down, but he didn’t give up on things. Hell, he had spent the last month or so trying to teach Felix to fight and how to use a toss ball stick effectively, even though Felix pushed back the whole time. 

It would suck if Max stopped doing that.

But why did Felix even care? Sure, Max could be good at stuff, but he had been an ass the whole time they had been on the ship together.

Felix headed to his room and took off his armor, knowing that with Sylas being out, they would go see Clyde tomorrow. Checking the time, they had been at the Hermit’s only a few hours. It would be better to have a bit of time to recover before going to see what Harlow wanted. 

They’d have time to work things out on the way back to the rest of the colony from Scylla. 

  
  
  


Max sat on his bed, staring at everything that he had carried with him since Tartarus. The pride he used to feel when looking upon these possessions was silly now. They are just things that taught the lie that the world was defined by a rigid structure, by math and equations. 

He wished now that he had given Sylas’s arguments more thought. He may have arrived here sooner, before antagonizing a man trying to make his way for himself and bothering someone so far into the truth that leading people wasn’t exciting anymore. 

But he was there now, content with his place and his purpose. 

Or lack thereof. 

Now he could focus his efforts in actually experiencing the world around him for the years this body had left. 

He knew that Felix was wary of his change and he would predict that Sylas and the others would be the same. It would take time for them to adjust, maybe find their own peace like he had. 

He emptied his satchel to put away what he could, enjoying going over each item he possessed and really analyze it beyond its symbolism in the OSI faith. But he came to the worn journal of Bakonu, forgotten in his bag when he experienced the truth for the first time. He didn’t return it to the Hermit. 

Not that she needed it anymore. He didn’t need it either, even if he could read it. 

Maybe he would get rid of it. Pawn it off to a collector? 

A gentle knock came from the doorway.

Sylas stood there, arms crossed in a relaxed manner. He looked tired, but he was standing, which was a better state than what Max had left him in his quarters an hour or so earlier. 

"Hello, Captain,” Max greeted, setting the book down. “How may I be of service?”

Sylas studied him for a moment, the green eyes behind his glasses looking for something. Max wasn’t sure what it was, but he would be open to answer any questions. He was new to this feeling, but he would find the words in time. 

“I wanted to check on you,” Sylas finally said. “I missed the walk back. How are you?”

It was hard to explain how he felt succinctly. He was the best he had been in a long time, and better now that Sylas still seemed invested enough to keep an eye on him. The fantasy he had, of the three of them together, came back to him. He had repressed it before, but wanted to consider it now. 

However, this wasn’t the time to bring it up. 

The crew wasn’t used to his enlightenment. Or Felix definitely wasn’t by the way he kept his distance on the way back.

“I am well, even though the others may not feel so,” Max finally replied with a small shrug. “And you? I was not the one who passed out in the bathroom.”

“Better than throwing up in one of her plants,” Sylas shot back with a shrug. “I’m feeling better now that I’m not being accosted by hallucinations and smoke.”

“I agree, it was a jarring experience, but a beneficial one,” Max explained. “Had I known how much would be shared, I wouldn’t have allowed you to accompany me.”

Max thought to the other forms that materialized out of the smoke like his mother and the idealized version of himself. But it must have been hard for Sylas. He, more than others he knew, had to fight so much harder for his ‘self’, the self he constructed from the beginning, to be realized. The idealized Sylas even said as much. It had to have been perturbing to be forced to face a story he had put away for so long. 

“We sure did learn a lot about each other,” Sylas agreed with a nod. “It was a lot, for everyone involved. Well, maybe not Felix…”

Max chuckled, knowing that the younger man didn’t seem to be phased by what his own hallucinations had to say. 

“What you said, about me being a better man than I gave myself credit for,” Max started, keeping an eye on Sylas’s nonverbal reactions, “I appreciate it. You try to see the good in people, even if they make it hard.”

Sylas’s shoulders relaxed, but he kept his arms crossed in front of him. 

“I don’t think I was really saying it for you, though it was kinda for you,” Sylas tried explaining. “The three of us all held- and still hold- ourselves to that insane standard… I don’t know what I’m saying, forget it. You’re welcome.”

“You said it because you thought it about me and, therefore, if I held myself to such an insane standard as you do, it could mean it was true about you as well?” Max offered. 

He was always good with words, it was no wonder he could convince himself of something as silly as The Architect. 

“Yeah, something like that,” Sylas said with a nod, the slightest of smiles on his face, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You seem fulfilled, so I’m glad it worked out. What’s next?”

Max had honestly not really considered it. He had only been enlightened for a few hours, he was still getting a handle on this new realization. But Sylas must have assumed he had a plan going in. 

“I’ll go where the universe takes me,” Max replied with a shrug. “But you helped bring me to this contentment, so I will stay on with you if you’ll have me.”

Sylas’s smile grew, genuine this time and not a mask he knew how to wear too well. 

“Do I still get to call you Vicar when I’m teasing you?”

So that was a playful gesture for the most part. It was an exciting discovery, especially now that he allowed himself to feel the butterflies that came with it. 

“I suppose I am still a Vicar in the basest sense of the word,” Max mused, a slight smirk on his lips. “So only if I can disparage your title in the same fashion.”

“It’s only fair,” Sylas replied with a shrug. “I’m glad you’re staying, Max. The ship wouldn’t be the same without you here.”

“I’m glad I’m staying too.”

He had so much more to experience here, why would he leave?

  
  
  


“Are you sure it’s a good idea bringing Max along?” Felix asked as he got dressed. They were in transit to Harlow’s base and he was a little nervous to see his old mentor after so long. “I mean, we could just go in…”

“Look, I know Max is acting different now, but I think it’s just something we all have to get used to…” Sylas replied, fastening his boots. “Plus, I’d rather have him with us so we can keep an eye on him in case that smoke did fry something in his brain.”

Sylas had a point. If Max had a mental break, he would rather he did it with him and Sy around rather than leaving the girls to deal with it. Not that they couldn’t. Nyoka was a beast and Parvati had the quiet murderer vibe, so they could handle it if need be. But he and Sylas were there when Max changed, so it might end up better.

“He just talks so weird now…” Felix murmured. 

“I think it will settle in time,” Sylas consoled. “He joked with me last night.”

“How much time though? I just figured out how-” Felix started to say, but it sounded dumb as he said it aloud. 

“It’s not a bad thing to worry about your friendship with him,” Sylas replied, knowing the gist of what Felix was going to say. “I’m sure his interests aren’t going to be all that different. Just try what used to work. We’ll have a lot of free time on the way back to Terra 2.”

“Alright, I’ll try.”

Max met them in the air lock as they landed, only wearing one of his long sleeved shirts and slacks. 

“No vestments?” Felix asked. 

“These are technically a part of the OSI vestment dress code, but I don’t really have any other clothes and the cassock has too much OSI symbology to warrant wearing,” Max replied simply as the airlock opened. 

“Guess we’ll need to take you shopping next time we land in a town,” Sylas said with a shrug before heading out. 

The base was set in a crater, hidden from most prying eyes that would decide to come out this far on the edge of the solar system. It was crawling with bored looking people with more weapons on them than you’d expect for people at their home base, but he tried to not let that bother him too much. Clyde was trying to fuel a revolution, so they needed to defend themselves if the Board came by to put down the rebellion. 

One of the men approached as they descended on the lift.

“Hey you!” the dirty looking man called in a gruff voice. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Felix watched Sylas tense. 

“Clyde asked for us to come by,” Felix replied. “The name’s Felix Millstone.”

“Yeah, the captain said we might be getting a new recruit. That you?”

Felix stiffened up at the comment, Sylas giving him a side eye.

“Sounds like Clyde’s jumping to conclusions,” Felix explained. “We’re just here to talk.”

“You’re on a first name basis with the captain?” the man asked and gave a shrug. “All right. He’s inside.”

Sylas led the way to the building and away from any of the others before getting shoulder to shoulder with Felix.

“You didn’t say he wanted to recruit you,” Sylas nearly growled, sending a shiver up Felix’s spine.

“He didn’t say nothin’ about recruitment,” Felix defended. “Just talkin’.”

“Let us listen to what Harlow has to say and then we can decide what to do from there,” Max said in a soft voice. 

Max defending him from Sylas? His brain really did scramble.

Sylas led inside the building, which was full of scrap containers and other bits and pieces. They passed a terminal, which Sylas murmured to Max about getting info off of on the way out. 

Sylas did not seem to like Harlow before he even met the guy. Sure, Harlow hadn’t kept in contact. But he was a good leader and he looked out for his people. 

In the back of the building stood Clyde. He looked a little older than the last time Felix saw him, his hair greyer than before. But he was still the guy who looked out for Felix in the Back Bays.

“Well, hey there, Hullhead,” Clyde said with a small smirk. “Clawed your way out of the Groundbreaker at long last.”

“Uh-huh,” Felix replied, not playing into his game. Clyde had dropped him without any warning and now he wanted to be buddy-buddy? “Oh, sorry. Were you expecting me to say something? Maybe a ‘long time no see’ or a ‘you’ve aged, old man’?”

“No, it’s fine,” Sylas butted in, giving Felix a slight glare before facing Harlow. “Sylas, Harlow. Harlow, Sylas. Captain of the Unreliable.”

Oh, Sylas really didn’t like Clyde. And Felix had hoped they would get along…

“Your captain has a sense of humor, Felix,” Clyde replied, not even looking at Sylas. “There’s a time and place for humor.”

The smile that split across Sylas’s face was not one Felix had seen before. It was so close to a snarl that just a twitch of the upper lip and Sylas looked like he would rip Clyde’s throat out with his bare teeth. 

“So, you took Felix under your wing,” Clyde continued, finally looking at Sylas. “Kept him busy. Good. The kid always needed a place to belong.”

“Felix will always have a place in this crew,” Max replied with a slight frown. “He’s family to us now.”

Did Felix hear that right? Max said he was family? He had to shake his head slightly to keep control of the fuzz that filled his mind at that moment. He must have been joking or trying to draw away from Sylas's seething.

“Hear that, Clyde? I’ve been making something outta myself,” Felix said. 

It could have been a better line, but he was thrown by Max’s complement and Sylas’s hostility. 

“So long as you haven’t been making a fool of yourself,” Clyde responded before turning back to Sylas. “I’m sure Felix has no end of stories to tell of your exploits together. I look forward to catching up with the boy.”

“So why are we here then, Harlow?” Sylas questioned. “Because you’d be talking to Felix if you were rearing to catch up.”

Felix recognized that tone of voice. It was the same one he used on Nell back in Stellar Bay.

Which meant he suspected that Felix wanted to put in with Harlow and was getting possessive. While Sylas wanting him so fiercely made a few explicit thoughts pass through his mind, it also meant that Sylas actually thought there was a chance of Felix leaving. 

Did Felix have a reason to leave? Not before now...

“I’m working on something. Something big,” Clyde explained. “Halcyon shaking big. And I want Felix to be a part of the initiative. I’m fulfilling a promise I made the boy. That one day, he and I would change the colony together. That day has finally arrived.”

“Easy there, Clyde. No one said nothing about throwin’ in with you,” Felix replied, glad to see Sylas relax slightly. “In case you didn’t notice, I’m pretty happy where I am.”

“I’m not asking you to walk away from your captain, Felix,” Clyde said before giving Sylas a side glance. “But you shouldn’t allow yourself to be controlled by fear. Change is not to be feared. I wanted to see where your loyalties lie, I want to know I can rely on you.”

“Sounds like a test,” Sylas grumbled.

“Everyone on my crew proves their loyalty. No exceptions,” Clyde defended. “Not even Felix.”

Clyde proceeded to give them the job. Find and kill a traitor named Trask and bring back a ring as proof. Apparently Trask had ratted them out to the Board and then killed some of the others trying to get out. If this was supposed to be a clean revolution, everyone needed to stand together. Clyde gave them a lead to Groundbreaker and a medallion as his word to Sylas. 

“What do you think, Felix?” Sylas asked, handing him the medallion. “We’re here for you, after all and he’s the one who disappeared on you.”

Sylas was right, but that didn’t mean they shouldn’t help out.

“Clyde’s working on dismantling the Board and he really had my back on the Groundbreaker, boss. It’s the least we could do,” Felix replied with a small shrug. 

“See, just a favor for an old friend and nothing more,” Clyde said with a slight smirk. 

“Alright, we’ll do it,” Sylas nearly growled. “We’ll be back.”

“I’ll be waiting to see how you do, Felix,” Clyde said before returning to his work. 

Sylas started walking out, handing Max a data cart.

“Take whatever you can off the terminal,” Sylas ordered. “I’ve got a feeling we don’t have all the info.”

Max got to work as Felix and Sylas kept watch. 

“You think he’s using us?” Felix asked in a whisper. Why would Clyde do that?

“He talks about you like you are a pawn and a child,” Sylas said quietly. “We’ll get Trask’s side of the story and figure out what we’re really going to do.”

Felix didn’t like how distrusting Sylas was of Clyde. Sure, he had been rude to Sylas, but Sylas also wasn’t being the best role model on diplomatic relations. And anyway, Max was an ass and Sylas kept him around. 

While how much Sylas did to keep Felix around was really nice, the idea of him being over protective came back into Felix’s mind. 

What would he do if Felix actually wanted to leave? Would Sylas even let him? 

Maybe Felix should consider Clyde’s offer, just in case...


	23. Chapter 23

“ADA, plot course to Terra 2,” Sylas said as the trio got back onto the ship, trying to calm himself down.

“Great to see you as well, Captain,” ADA snarked back, but the engines roared to life. He would apologize later when he had the chance to cool off. 

Harlow really rubbed him the wrong way, starting off ignoring him and then making it seem like he was the one keeping Felix on the ship and able to just hand him off on a whim. 

“Sy!” Felix called, following him up the stairs and into his quarters. Their quarters? Sylas wasn’t sure. “What in the aether was that all about?”

Sylas shook his head, hanging his hat on it’s hook. 

“What?” Sylas asked. “I already told you, Harlow looks like he’s just doing this to use you.”

“You didn’t even give him a chance!” Felix shot back. “You looked like you wanted to tear him apart the second he mentioned me joining his crew.”

Felix wasn’t wrong. He wasn't jealous that Felix had people he could rely on in the past, but since they touched dirt at the base, it sounded like Harlow wanted Felix to leave the Unreliable to join him. And then he had the audacity to make it sound like he was doing Sylas a favor in the process. 

Sylas didn’t want Felix to get hurt. Was that so horrible?

His mind jumped back to his own apparition. 

_“You can’t protect everyone. You can’t save them from themselves.”_

But he had to try, right? 

“You got nothin?” Felix asked, getting closer. “Are we even going to go investigate it? You plotted a course to Terra 2, not Groundbreaker.”

“We’re going to Terra 2 to pick up Nyoka’s friends,” Sylas replied. “We’re not going back to Groundbreaker until we do the Sublight mission. We’ll follow up on Harlow’s lead then.”

“And what? Ferry them around until you can fit in a trip to Monarch?”

“What is this about, really?” Sylas asked, his shoulders slumping. Something was obviously bothering Felix and he wanted Sylas to make up for it. “Do you want me to apologize for being open with you about how I feel about Harlow? I know he means a lot to you-”

“Yeah, he does. And I know it’s really weird that he reached out after all this time, but we all have our reasons,” Felix replied. “I wish… I don’t know. That you would give it a higher priority...”

Sylas studied his face. Did he not understand everything that was going on right now? 

“Felix, we have other things that have been on the list since before Harlow contacted you,” Sylas explained in as even a tone as could. His heart raced as he tried not to snap. “We went to Harlow right after finishing Max’s request because we were here already. Nyoka has been waiting for us to go to Terra 2 for at least a week and a half now. Is finding and killing a guy for someone who helped you out more important than Nyoka burying her friends?”

“Well, no, but-” Felix started, backing off. 

“Because that is the choice I have to make as the Captain!” Sylas continued before holding himself back. “Look, I really like what we have here, but I can’t go playing favorites just because we’re together, Felix. It sucks, but being captain isn’t just doing cool shit all the time.”

Felix stood there, blinking. Sylas could see him working through what Sylas just dumped on him, and Sylas began to feel the guilt creep in. It wasn’t Felix’s fault that Sylas had a lot on his plate. 

“Felix-”

“You know, this was a bad time to talk,” Felix interrupted. “You’re stressed and you need to cool down. I should have waited. I’m going to let you do what you need to do and we can do this later.”

And like that Felix backed out of the room and headed upstairs. Sylas took a deep breath and let his head fall back as he let it out. 

He really was not the person to be doing this. 

Why was he even trying?

He knew it was because of Todd, at least for the most part. He wanted his brother back, and because of that, more people would be released too. 

But now he had all these other wants. 

He wanted his and Felix’s relationship to work out.

He wanted to help the friends he had found in Halcyon.

He wanted to help all these people who didn’t know a better life.

He wanted a life of his own.

But it didn’t matter what he wanted if he couldn’t do anything about it. He had a trajectory that he was on and if Felix couldn’t handle not being first all the time, then he would need to keep Felix at a distance.

His heart fell into his stomach at the thought of having to let Felix go. 

But there were things more important than the two of them. Sylas finished settling in before heading to the cargo bay to grab the welding torch. 

If he was going to be by himself while cooling down, he might as well be productive.

  
  
  


“Alright, what’s going on, Loverboy?” 

Felix looked up from his spot on a couch to see Ellie standing with her arms crossed and tapping her foot. He didn’t feel like being mocked at the moment, so he went back to watching a rerun of Masked Marketeer on the small screen Parvati usually set up when they watched them together.

“Unreliable to Felix!? Hello? Anyone home?” Ellie continued, stepping in front of the screen and waving her hand in his face. “There must be some real trouble in paradise if you’re sulking.”

“I’m not sulking,” Felix said, rolling his eyes. “And we just got off a mining asteroid, so it will be a while before we get to anywhere close to paradise.”

He didn’t want to be bothered, but apparently Ellie couldn't take a hint. 

“I heard your spat with the captain and you’ve spent the last four or so hours moving from your room to here and back,” Ellie replied. “Now, had you come to me first before getting close to the captain, I would have told you not to get close to anyone. People just let you down. But here we are.”

“Yeah, but sometimes you gotta get close to people, you know?” Felix replied, sitting up. “How else are you gonna land a sneak attack?”

“That’s good,” Ellie said with a laugh. “For a second I thought you were going to say something mushy. But instead you’re coping with humor.”

“It’s nice to know you care, Ellie,” Felix said with a small smile at the grimace he earned. “But really, we’re fine. He and I disagreed on how we should have handled my friend and we’ll talk about it later.”

Was it actually fine? Not really, but they could iron it out later when the stress of Max changing and adding another thing to the to-do list relaxed a bit. 

“Look, the second things get weird on this ship, I’m out even though the pay is good,” Ellie said, leaning against the table. “And you and the captain fighting could push the whole dynamic into the weird zone, so If I can mitigate it and make good money, I’m going to do it. But if everything’s good, then instead of you laying on the couch totally not sulking, I want you to try some of my cocktails. I have a shit ton of booze and it’s taking up too much space in my bunk.”

Now, that wasn’t a bad idea. He had to pass the time somehow and he wanted to let Sy sleep on their talk before bringing it back up. 

“You know what, that sounds like a good time,” Felix said with a nod. “I’m in.”

The next few hours flew by in a blur of drinking increasingly sweet and colorful beverages while swapping stories, some of which Felix was pretty sure he got from a serial, but neither of them cared. Ellie softened up a bit once they actually got to talking, going as far as talking about the weird shit she had to do when working as a doctor in Byzantium. 

Not that it surprised him that the Board would make a doctor do plastic surgery all day. 

But after at least two bottles of spectrum vodka shared between them along with an assortment of other beverages, Felix was swaying and nearly falling asleep standing up every step or so. 

He called it a night, knowing if he was actually going to do anything tomorrow, he’d need to sleep. He stopped in the middle of the hallway, considering whether to head downstairs to sleep with Sy or head to his own room. 

Sy probably wouldn’t want to sleep with him after their fight…

Felix turned, opened the door to his room- when did he close his door?- and stumbled to the bed. 

Felix blinked, confused. Did Sylas sneak a bookshelf into his room while he was drinking with Ellie? 

He shrugged, putting it on the list to ask the boss in the morning before slipping into bed.

  
  
  


Max roused at the sound of the door to his room sliding open, but the feeling of someone sliding into bed on top of him jolted him awake. The scent of alcohol hit his nose as he felt the person hesitate as they touched him.

“The fuck?” Felix slurred, his silhouette swaying against the light coming in from the hallway. Felix’s hands gripped Max’s biceps as he tried to steady himself. “Wha-whatcha doin’ in my room, Max?”

Max froze for a moment, the old urge to retaliate in anger presenting itself for a moment before he pushed it away. It wouldn’t help and this was a situation to be experienced. 

Felix was drunk, half standing half starting to lay on him, sounding almost conflicted. 

“You’re in the wrong room, Mr.Millstone,” Max replied in a calm tone. “This is my bunk. Yours is across the hall.”

Did he really forget which door led to his room, which he had slept in for weeks now when he wasn’t sharing the captain's quarters? Or was this his subconscious showing something that a sober Felix hid as a part of the story he told himself? 

It didn’t really matter, even if a more primal part of his brain said that this could be his chance. It wasn’t right to put his experience of the universe above Felix’s.

“Oh shit,” Felix said after a distinct pause spent interpreting what Max said. He straightened up quickly, groaned, and turned to puke on the floor. “Oh fuck, Max.”

“It’s alright, Mr.Millstone,” Max replied, getting up on the opposite side of the vomit pool. “ADA would you please raise the lights up to dim and notify SAM that he is needed in my room. Thank you.”

“Of course, Vicar DeSoto,” ADA replied, the lights coming on in the room to reveal Felix looking like he was getting ready to puke again. 

Max maneuvered around the bed and took Felix by the arm. 

“Come along, son,” Max said quietly, guiding him to the restroom as quickly as possible without tripping the young man up. He did notice Ellie laying on one of the couches passed out next to a spilled glass of purple liquid. 

So she had gotten Felix drunk? Interesting.

It didn’t take long for him to get Felix situated with the toilet and Max waited outside until he had finished his business. With how often Ellie drank with Nyoka, he knew she was probably nowhere near in danger of alcohol poisoning, especially since she was breathing normally at her place on the couch. But, to his knowledge, Felix didn’t have that kind of tolerance.

“ADA, is Sylas still awake?” Max asked, peeking into the bathroom in between bouts of retching.

“He is. Would you like me to ask him to join you?” ADA asked.

“No, he’s busy,” Felix slurred from the bathroom before throwing up again. 

“Yes please, ADA,” Max replied, earning a groan from the younger man. 

Felix and Sylas weren’t on the best of terms, but the captain had some kind of background in biology. Felix would have to make do while the doctor was incapacitated. 

It didn’t take long for Sylas to come up the stairs, barefoot as always in pajama pants and a tank top. Soot and grease stained his hands, a dusting of smudges dotting his face where he probably scratched an itch. 

“What’s going on?” he asked, looking to Max with worried eyes. “ADA said Felix was throwing up.”

“I’m fine!” Felix whined, the last of the heaving finishing up.

“I believe he and Dr.Fenhill had a fun time testing out alcoholic beverages…” Max replied, placing his hands behind his back. “He was having a hard time getting inside his room. Thankfully I hadn’t fallen asleep just yet.”

It was a simple lie. An omission of detail to help keep Felix’s decency. Max could ask him later if it came up, but no harm no foul. Hopefully it wouldn’t become a common occurrence. If the relationship between the captain and Felix turned sour, it would make an already long trip feel longer. 

Sylas nodded, heading into the restroom to tend to Felix personally and Max felt that it was appropriate to give them privacy. So, since he was up, he aided Ellie in getting back to her room. 

“You know, Vicky,” Ellie said with a distinct pause. But whatever she was waiting for never came, “You know, never mind. I think I like the old you better.”

“I’m sure you will miss riling me up,” Max replied, helping her get to her door. “You will find something else to do with your time.”

“You’re still an ass.”

“I never claimed to be otherwise,” Max said with a chuckle as the door closed. 

“C’mon, you gotta get in bed,” Sylas pleaded. Felix was leaning heavily onto Sylas, one arm over the shorter man’s shoulders. 

“I know!” Felix whined. “You’re not my dad, so stop treating me like a kid!”

“Do you want my help or not?” Sylas asked, continuing to move without stopping for Felix to respond. 

“Not if you’re going to be a dick about it,” Felix responded, pulling away and stumbling past Max into his room. Sylas threw up his hands in exasperation before turning around and heading back into the kitchen proper. 

Max peeked into Felix’s room to see him passed out on his bed before following Sylas into the kitchen.

“What am I doing wrong, Max?” Sylas asked, washing the grime off his hands in the sink. “I just want-”

“You have to let go of being in control,” Max interrupted, knowing that Sylas's justifications wouldn’t be useful in the long run. 

Sylas had been in the same room as he was and saw almost everything that Max had experienced. 

But, unlike Max, he didn't change nearly as much. 

“I should have known you were going to say that…” Sylas murmured. “But I can’t just let him get hurt by this guy and then hurt himself.”

Sylas hated being passive as much as Felix and needed to control things as much Max used to. 

“Then guide him,” Max replied, moving to lean on the counter and face Sylas. “He’s his own person, so he will make what seem to be mistakes to you. That’s a part of his journey.”

Sylas glanced over before shaking his head. 

“But if he gets hurt, then it’s my fault if I could have stopped it and didn’t.”

Sylas blamed himself for so much more than what he caused. Fault was an odd concept now that he knew the truth. Everything could be learned from, whether it was beneficial or inhibitory. But, then again, Sylas never really cared for lessons brought from harmful outcomes if they could be avoided. 

Either way, Max felt an ache in his chest seeing Sylas so conflicted.

It hurt to see him hurt. 

Just because the self was nothing more than illusion, it didn’t mean that it wasn’t a convincing one. Everything was meant to be experienced, even pain. 

“I think that this may be something good for him, even if it hurts right now,” Max finally replied. “I think it will help you too, if you let it.”

Sylas looked him dead in the eye, Max able to pick out the dark teal ring that encircled the green of his inner irises. He had bags under his eyes and a few acne scars. 

He was handsome. 

Max let himself take in that idea in its entirety. For the first time he acknowledged it without repression. 

His instincts screamed that this was dangerous and he should put it away and never pick it up again. It would take time to retrain that part of his brain, but it was possible.

“Yeah, alright,” Sylas said with a nod, breaking their connection by letting his gaze fall to the floor. “In this case, you’re right.”

Max would take that as a step in the right direction, even if it was only a small step. Not everyone could process enlightenment in such a large leap. 

Max gave Sylas a gentle pat on the shoulder before exchanging quiet good-nights and heading back to their rooms. 

He knew that if they could work things out, Sylas and Felix could grow from each other. 

And maybe he would be lucky enough to join them on that journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you are enjoying the conflicting personalities mingling together. I know my upload schedule has been a bit sporadic, but real life has gotten really busy. I don't want to abandon this story, but the upload schedule is definitely gonna slow down. Thanks for those who have commented and left kudos, it really does help keep me motivated.


	24. Chapter 24

Felix woke up alone in darkness, his bed bigger than before. Was he still on the Unreliable?

Oh, right. Sylas upgraded the crew beds. It was nice, being able to stretch out without having to hang off the side too much. 

Why was he in his crew bed?

Why’d his mouth taste like shit?

The last day’s events came back slowly. Going to see Clyde and Sylas acting like an ass, their fight, drinking with Ellie. But then events got fuzzy. He remembered going to bed, but then Max was there? 

Max’s biceps in his grip as he leaned over the man. 

Felix’s mind came into painful focus. 

He had mistaken Max’s room for his own and tried to slip into bed with him. And then he threw up. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Felix murmured over and over again. 

Had he said something stupid? Did he mention that one fantasy that would come up more often than he would rather admit? 

Sylas had been there too, but only after Felix had been taken to the bathroom. 

He had still been a bossy ass and then nothing.

What didn’t he remember? 

He slowly sat up, feeling his head spin. After letting it settle a moment, he attempted to stand with some success. It only took what felt like forever to get out of his room and into the way too bright hallway. 

Through squinted eyes, he saw Nyoka and Parvati standing over what looked to be Nyoka’s gun as Parvati worked on it. 

“You ever worry all that ammo in your berth might combust?” Parvati asked as Felix entered the room. “Oh, Mornin’ Felix.”

“Wait, what?” Nyoka replied. “It can do that?”

“All it takes is a little bit o’ black powder next to a lot of bits of fertilizer and one real hot day, and BOOM!” Parvati explained before dropping her voice to a whisper. “I seen it happen.”

“I don’t know what’s more unsettling: the concept of my ammunition combusting or the fact that this is the kind of thing you think about on the regular,” Nyoka said before turning to Felix. “Ellie said she whipped you up somethin’ before she went back to bed.”

“I think I’m good never drinking something Ellie has whipped up ever again,” Felix groaned, filling a glass with water before downing it. “Water will be just fine.”

“Oh, must be bad if you’re willingly drinking water,” Nyoka teased with a smirk. “How’s she lookin’, Parvati? After the tinkerin’ you did the first time, I’m sure you can get the blaster fixed.”

“Almost finished here, Nyoka,” Parvati replied with a grin. “Still got a day or so left to travel. Though, I think I heard ADA say we switched destinations…”

“Yeah, the captain originally set course to Terra 2 so we could go find Anders and Rebekah, but now we’re heading to that station for the Sublight job,” Nyoka said. “He checked with me first to make sure I wouldn’t be mad.”

Sylas changed course? But he was so certain about heading to Terra 2. 

“You don’t sound like you’re mad,” Parvati replied, her face up close with the trigger mechanism of the gun. 

“I’m not and I dunno what he would think I would be. He’s the one doing me a favor,” Nyoka said with a shrug.

Felix quietly slipped out of the mess and stopped in his room to change clothes before heading downstairs. He and Sy needed to talk, not what they both calmed down some and Felix was sober.

The door to Sylas’s quarters was open, something that sounded like a wordless, extended jingle came from the speakers inside. It was nice, but the lack of advertisement was something he never heard before. 

Felix quietly ascended the small set of stairs to find Sylas partially tangled in sheets as he kneeled on the biggest bed Felix had ever seen. It took up a good portion of the far corner of the room and consisted of several mattresses laid next to each other. 

“Hello?” Sylas called as he froze, his head covered in a sheet he was previously using to cover the mattresses. 

“Just me,” Felix replied, looking around. It was a mess compared to the morning before. Tools and scrap bits of metal littered the floor, but the thing that caught his eye was that Sylas’s earth crate was now open. “You opened it.”

“Uh, yeah, I did,” Sylas replied, getting the sheets off his head. He looked at Felix with squinted eyes, not wearing his glasses as his hair hung over his face in chunks. “I knew I had music in there, so I opened it for that. I haven’t really looked at anything else. How you feeling?”

Felix knew that Sylas was worried about him after the night before, but the frustration at that constant worry flared slightly before sputtering out. He didn’t have the energy to fight like that.

“I’ll be fine in a couple of hours,” Felix said with a shrug. “We’re heading to the Sublight job?”

Sylas whipped his hair out of his face as he sat back on his heels. He was still hot despite looking like he ran across the Groundbreaker and back and then didn’t bathe for a week.

“Yeah. I had a lot of time to brood yesterday and I thought about what you said,” Sylas said with a sigh. “ And Max kinda called me out on my shit after you stormed off to your room. I’m sorry for acting like I know what’s best for you.”

Max called Sylas out on how he had been treating Felix? 

Come to think of it, he didn’t even sound mad when Felix had thrown up on his floor.

“Look, I appreciate you looking out for me and everything,” Felix replied. “But how you treated Clyde yesterday and then getting pissy when we talked after made it seem like you didn’t trust me enough to give input.”

Sylas nodded, detangling himself from the fabric.

“I’ll do my best to not speak over you and make sure to consider your input in the future,” he said quietly. “I hope you feel okay calling me out on it when I don’t.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Felix said with a shake of his head. “I know it’s hard being you, but you can rely on us more than you do. We’ve got a good crew.”

“Yeah, we do,” Sylas agreed with a slight smile that brought the fuzzy feeling back into Felix’s chest. “I’m getting used to being able to rely on people as much as they rely on me.”

“Well, I’m glad I’m not the only one learning new stuff on this ship,” Felix said, closing the gap to help take the sheets. 

“Oh, I’m learning new shit all the time,” Sylas replied. “We good?”

“Yeah, we’re good,” Felix replied, giving him a peck on the lips. If Sylas said he would try to make it work, Felix could hold him accountable. “I want to try the bed.”

“Of course you do.”

  
  
  


Despite not having to live the regimented life of an OSI Vicar no more, the decades of getting up early left their mark on his circadian rhythm. He tried to spend time like he used to, reading through the scriptures of Scientism, but now they were laughable at best and could not hold his focus any longer. 

Thankfully their trip had been shortened by a day to complete the Sublight job to claim an entire space station, so he only needed to occupy himself for another several hours before they would be touching down. 

He considered trying to work out in the cargo hold to make sure he kept up his health, but the break was welcome when his knees protested going down the stairs. So he settled for meditation. 

He sat in Navigation, between ADA’s monitor and the navigation terminal and let himself get lost in the endless void of space. He and everything else came from the universe and would eventually return to it. He only hoped that whatever it was trying to learn through his existence, it succeeded in the end. It felt like he had wasted so much time thinking that the universe was driven by order that he wouldn’t be much of use now. 

Or maybe the universe used his time as a part of OSI to investigate order as a concept?

The folly of trying to understand the universe as a whole was still as true now as it was as when he was a Scientitian.

His mind shifted back to his current situation. Felix had been still sleeping off the alcohol when he came down here and Sylas was hauling mattresses up to his room to some music.

He had never heard what he was listening to before, probably something coming directly from earth and most likely very illegal in the eyes of the Board. But it had a nice tempo, especially compared to the jingles and hymns that were allowed in the colony. 

Maybe they could listen to it together? He was interested in what kinds of music Sylas deemed worthy to bring with him. 

What else did the younger man bring? Was it practical or just a chest of mementos? He had several knicknacks in his room already from their travels in Halcyon, why wouldn’t he have them from Earth?

And what of Felix? The memory of a firm grip on his arms coming from an uncertain body came back to him. Felix had panicked when he processed what he had done, more than what Max would have expected from the young man. Was he that afraid that Max would lash out in anger?

He had good reason to be given Max’s past. 

He had seen the glances, but drunk minds were known for revealing base desires. 

Could Max even sustain a relationship with both of them at the same time? He wasn’t getting younger, but a group of three lovers was rare in Halcyon. It would be something interesting to explore, even if it didn’t last long. 

Sylas had been making a larger bed for himself anyway. They could all spend time together.

The idea of spending the hours of a long trip exploring each other, learning just how to excite their bodies, shot to the forefront of his mind. He let it play out until the tightness in his pants became uncomfortable. 

How would he broach the topic with the two? Just a plain admission of interest? 

He wasn’t even sure if either of them had even considered anything beyond monogamy before. Max hadn’t until his enlightenment. 

“Taking in the view?” 

Max pulled his attention from his own musings and turned to find Nyoka leaning against the doorframe.

“The emptiness of space leaves much room to consider many topics and how they interconnect, Ms.Ramnarim-Wentworth.”

She must have picked up on something going on between Sylas and Felix, maybe wanting what information Ellie couldn’t provide from her time the night before. 

“Ellie mentioned you were acting weird and you took down the OSI banner in your room,” Nyoka replied. “You don’t seem too different…”

Ah, so it was her turn to check up on his mental health.

“I wouldn’t say that I am all that different than before the truth was shown to me, but my philosophy on the purpose we have in this life as well as what it means to be ‘us’ has changed significantly,” Max explained. 

“So you’re still a preacher, but what your preaching has changed,” Nyoka summarized with a shrug. “So what is our purpose, since you seem to know it?”

“There isn’t one.”

Nyoka blinked at that. 

“Then what’s the point in existin’ at all?”

“You mistake my meaning,” Max replied, mentally cursing himself for trying to preach before he worked though it fully beforehand. “If there is a point, it is to let go of thinking there _is_ a point. Existence is freedom if you let go of humankind’s demands for meaning and structure.”

“What’s the point in being free if it doesn’t actually mean anything?”

“Oh, there is meaning to be found, just not in the way most people assume,” Max continued. “For example, I believe there was great meaning in your helping people survive the Monarch evacuation.”

“Hmm, were I never born, lot of those folks might be dead…” Nyoka mused, crossing her arms. “Making our own purpose is something the philosophists teach.”

“That is true,” Max said with a nod. “I should have given them more consideration when I was in Amber Heights. It doesn’t matter now though. I am heading in the right direction.”

“Oh, so you’re finally going to make your move on the captain?” Nyoka asked with a smirk. “Felix might not take that too kindly.”

“You caught on from the beginning, Ms.Ramnarim-Wentworth. Even before I caught on myself,” Max chuckled. “However, if things work out like I wish they do, I should not have a problem appeasing both parties.”

Nyoka eyed him for a moment before something clicked and she raised an eyebrow.

“I wouldn’t have placed you for one of the group types,” Nyoka said with a grin. 

“I wouldn’t even have given it any consideration until two days ago,” Max replied. “So I am just as surprised. But now it is a very interesting option that may play out.”

“Good on you, Max,” Nyoka said, before straightening up and reading to leave. “You seem happier, so, no matter how weird it might be, I’m glad you figured out what you needed to figure out.”

"I am as well,” Max responded, returning to the expanse of space. The universe would take him where it would, but he could still hope for something, no?

  
  
  


Sylas laid on their new bed, Felix’s arm holding his waist from behind as their legs tangled together, not able to fall asleep. While technically they were testing out the bed now, Felix’s idea included makeup sex. Sylas appreciated reaffirming their connection, even if it helped Felix more than it did him. 

He wished he could get out of the act what Felix did. Sure, it was pleasurable enough, but he felt no closer to his partner when copulating than when they would watch serials together or just talk to each other. The act was definitely easier now that they could both stretch out, so that was something.

Felix’s quiet snores mismatched with the soft violin music still playing in the background. Felix mentioned it was nice, but hadn’t really responded to it’s presence. There wasn’t much in the way of music in Halcyon, so he thought Felix would have a more intense response. 

But he had more on his mind than appreciation of a well written musical piece. 

Sylas would need to have Max listen. He would enjoy the complexity of the scores. 

Unless he wouldn't anymore? He had mentioned wanting to experience more, but that didn’t mean that the things he used to like would be the same now that he had his world broken in front of him and rebuilt into something new?

And he hadn’t seen Max read anything since they left Scylla, which could be because he didn’t enjoy it anymore. But it could also be that all the reading material was no longer enticing as it once was. 

Was it weird that he was thinking about whether Max still enjoyed music instead of just enjoying the time he just had with Felix? He seemed perfectly content being the big spoon, his face pressed into the crook of Sylas neck as he breathed evenly.

It was probably not great that he was thinking of another man, at least.

A man who has been rumored to at least be interested in him. Sylas wasn’t sure how he felt about that. It was weird enough when Felix admitted liking him back. He didn’t feel like he had much to offer as a partner. Sure, he was the captain of a ship, but he wasn’t enthusiastic about the main things that people tended to get into relationships for. 

Max did seem to enjoy it when they talked, so maybe he wanted companionship? That didn't mean that the former-priest had more physical interests in him. They were close, probably closer than he and Felix really were, but not in the same way. 

“You’re thinking really loudly, boss,” Felix murmured into Sylas’s neck. 

“Sorry,” Sylas apologized, trying to relax. He wished he didn’t hold his stress so tightly in his muscles. 

“Worried about the SubLight job?”

“Among everything else.”

“We’ll work it out,” Felix said, hugging him closer. “We still got a bit of time to kill. You wanna unload your crate?”

Sylas had opened it, so it would need to be unpacked eventually. And it would be a good distraction.

“Yeah, you wanna help?”

“You know I do,” Felix said, Sylas feeling the grin on his face before he untangled himself from Sylas. 

Sylas appreciated how much being on the ship helped Felix fill out. His body was covered in scars, more on the arms and legs, and a few newer ones were still losing their color on his torso. Only a few ribs could still be seen under his skin. Sylas knew Felix would always be gangly, but at least now he wasn’t malnourished. 

“I thought you weren’t attracted to me like that,” Felix teased, making eye contact as he put on a pair of pants. 

“Me enjoying the view doesn’t have to be sexual, string bean,” Sylas replied, getting up. 

“What did you just call me?”

“String bean?” Sylas asked. “Do you not have bean- right, minimal fresh food. It’s a type of plant that has long skinny pods that are edible.”

“We may need to workshop the pet name a bit,” Felix replied with a slight wince. “I don’t want to be called a _vegetable_ as a nickname.”

Sylas rolled his eyes as he pulled on his own pants and shirt. Stringbean fit him, but he would find something else since Felix didn’t like it. He walked over the crate and lifted the lid, taking in the disordered mess he had left in his search for the music data cart.

The first thing he really noticed was a small, plush toy tucked into the side in the shape of a turtle. He picked it up gently, seeing as 70 years in storage did not help the already well worn stuffed animal. Without really registering what he was doing, he lifted it to his nose and took a deep breath.

It was hard to remember and put a finger on what his home had smelled like back on earth. It was dusty and smelled of oil most of the time, but it also had a hint of the spicy food his parents would make and the synthetic clean linen smell. The turtle mainly smelled like dust, but he could almost smell the ghost of home. 

Felix squeezed Sylas’s shoulder as he pulled the turtle back, realizing he had been shaking. 

“Didn’t think you’d be one to bring an old toy with you across the universe,” Felix teased.

“Gregory lived on my bed for as long as I can remember,” Sylas replied with a shrug before gently placing the turtle on top of the computer monitor. “I couldn’t just leave him behind.”

Sylas moved on, pulling out a couple of books that he recognized as photo albums. On the top was a note that he recognized as his mother’s hand writing saying to share these with Todd. He gently placed them to the side and pulled out a few more data carts, a couple of sealed bags, and a thick quilt. 

“It looks like your mom knew you’d be getting cold,” Felix joked, gently placing a hand on the blanket. “Never seen something like this in any of the shops and Groundbreaker has everything.”

“My grandmother made it, I think? They lived in a rural town and fabric was cheaper than buying a thick blanket at the store.”

“Oh, shit. That is a lot of work. ” Felix replied, looking more closely at the quilt before something in the crate caught his eye. “You forgot something.”

He reached in and fished out a small drawstring bag that must have been placed under the quilt. Sylas took it from him and opened it, pouring two metal bands into his palm. The thinner of the two was well polished and clean while the thicker of the two had several nicks and scratches in its surface.

“Rings?” Felix asked. 

“My parent’s wedding rings,” Sylas corrected. “But, they-”

“Probably wanted you to have them even if they weren’t gone yet.”

Sylas sighed, wrapping his fingers around them. They wouldn’t be useful in the state Halcyon was at the moment. Marriage was mainly a contract that could be used by the companies. Plus he was in no state to try to commit himself to a lifetime relationship. His chances were slim of even making it to saving those on the Hope. 

But the option was another thing to strive for.


End file.
